Michael stood grinning at the entrance to the lab. This was partly because Tempe had noticed him standing there and also partly because he was finely wearing something more to his taste. His dull plants suit had turned into a slick well tailored suit and he was now wearing a pair of gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses.
"Sorry to disturb you." He said taking off his sunglasses. "What are you doing?"
"Reconstructing a skull," Tempe answered as she picked up a fragment of bone and examined it before putting it back on the table. Looking over at him, her eyebrow arched a little. "Did you need something?"
"Not really, just getting used to this place, you know. Looking around, checking places out. This "Sensorium" is an interesting place, how does it work exactly?" He said while examining the skull. "So what happened to this unlucky guy?"
She was quiet for a moment, trying to remember what she'd been told about how the sesoriums worked. "I believe that the simulations are based on telepathic and verbal suggestions, and other small details are filled in by the AI's." She's not sure if that's exactly how they work but she's pretty sure that's what she'd been told.
Her attention shifted to the skull she was working on. "He was killed in World War I. This was part of a case I'd worked on before I came here."
Michael's eyebrows arched and he gave a low whistle " Telepathy eh? This ship seems to be way ahead of anything we've ever developed on Earth, and that includes some top secret stuff that no one has officially even heard about."
His gaze returned to the fractured skull on the table. " This skull is... smaller then usual... I'm assuming he wasn't very old when he died?"
"So it would seem," Tempe agreed with a slight nod of her head. "I find it hard to rationalize how any of this can actually be real." She shrugged her shoulders as she fingered a skull shard no bigger than a centimeter or two across.
"No he wasn't. He was barely eighteen." Tempe frowned looking down at the skull. "You're actually interested in this?" she asked, lifting to meet his gaze with her suspicious one.
He flashed a grin, "Of course I am. As a spy, I use a lot of different methods to retrieve information, and forensics is just one more tool of my trade." He paused, " Do you mind me asking, why did you get into forensics in the first place?"
"A spy?" Tempe repeated, casting him another dubious look. She'd met a lot of people and she might have even met a spy or two and not known it, but the fact that someone was openly claiming to be a spy? Well that just seemed a bit odd to her.
She shrugged her shoulders, almost as if she was truly saying she didn't care - which in a way she didn't, but that wasn't really the point. Sighing she set the small bone back on the table and looked up at him. "Well to be perfectly honest, I got involved in forensic anthropology because I'm able to bring some sort of closure to a victim and their family. I'm able to give them a face, tell the family what happened to their loved one."
There's a lot more to it, but Tempe doesn't feel it's any of his business.
Michael smiled, most people didn't ever think a spy would openly claim to be one, and in most cases they'd be right, but Michael didn't see the need to keep his job a secret while on Stacy. "Well, a former spy. Back on earth I got... fired. When a spy gets fired, he doesn’t get a call from the lady in HR and a gold watch, they cut him off, they make sure he can never work again. They can’t take away his skills, or what’s in his head, so they take away the resources that allow him to function, they burn him. That's what happened to me. And before I was whisked away by Stacy, I was in the middle of trying to get my old life back, as a spy."
He nodded, " That's a commendable reason to take up a job. My job was something I chose out of..." He paused, searching for the right words, "Well, let's just say I chose it just because I knew my dad wouldn't like it."
"How do you manage to get fired as a spy? Did you mess up something?" Nope, the woman has no tact. Sorry, Michael.
She smiled though and looked back at the skull. "I actually got into it because of my parents," she admitted softly, and pushed the skull away from her for the time being.
"You don't even know?" Her eyebrows shoot up and well... That's just odd. But it's not her job, so she really doesn't need to worry about it now does she?
She clears her throat and looks down at the table top for a moment. "I don't really talk about it. It's personal."
"Sorry to disturb you." He said taking off his sunglasses. "What are you doing?"
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"Not really, just getting used to this place, you know. Looking around, checking places out. This "Sensorium" is an interesting place, how does it work exactly?" He said while examining the skull. "So what happened to this unlucky guy?"
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Her attention shifted to the skull she was working on. "He was killed in World War I. This was part of a case I'd worked on before I came here."
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His gaze returned to the fractured skull on the table. " This skull is... smaller then usual... I'm assuming he wasn't very old when he died?"
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"No he wasn't. He was barely eighteen." Tempe frowned looking down at the skull. "You're actually interested in this?" she asked, lifting to meet his gaze with her suspicious one.
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She shrugged her shoulders, almost as if she was truly saying she didn't care - which in a way she didn't, but that wasn't really the point. Sighing she set the small bone back on the table and looked up at him. "Well to be perfectly honest, I got involved in forensic anthropology because I'm able to bring some sort of closure to a victim and their family. I'm able to give them a face, tell the family what happened to their loved one."
There's a lot more to it, but Tempe doesn't feel it's any of his business.
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He nodded, " That's a commendable reason to take up a job. My job was something I chose out of..." He paused, searching for the right words, "Well, let's just say I chose it just because I knew my dad wouldn't like it."
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She smiled though and looked back at the skull. "I actually got into it because of my parents," she admitted softly, and pushed the skull away from her for the time being.
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He shifted a bit, " Really? Could you tell me about how that came to be?"
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She clears her throat and looks down at the table top for a moment. "I don't really talk about it. It's personal."
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