(Untitled)

[a_short_youth]

Say what one would about Stacy's interior decoration skills. With its vast movie and fiction holdings, when it came to entertainment, there were few places better for it than the Media Library and it's podrooms

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[psi_flames]

Jono, at least, had one thing on most of the others; he didn't have to eat. He'd been to the mess hall, of course. Mostly out of curiosity. Now that he knew he wouldn't actually be jealous of anybody eating that stuff, he might be more willing to spend other time there.

Sleep was still a problem, as well as the persistent headache. Which was, as far as he was concerned, a good reason not to go sleeping in the little cubby hole that was supposed to be his room. So he spent a lot of time in the media library, catching up on music.

He had one of the media storage devices and was walking to another part of the library when he picked up a presence. Curious, he headed that direction. Good t' see I ain't the only one hidin' out in 'ere, he said, rubbing at the back of his head.

[a_short_youth]

"I'm not--oh, who am I kidding?"

Lucca never thought she'd see the day when voices in her head (aside from her own) would cease to surprise her. A few dozen ||Information classified||'s from Stacy had that effect. "But if anyone else asks, it's 'research.'" She shook her head. "Just not particularly fruitful research."

"Suppose I could use the room for its intended purpose, if I recognized any of the entertainment holdings here."

[psi_flames]

Yeah, Stacy would do that to anybody. Even Jono's tired of her in his head and he's used to having voices there. Too many people, not enough shielding in the world, some days.

What're y' researchin'? He moved over and sat down. He wasn't a particularly tall guy, but she was sitting, so it would be rude to hover. Don' really recognize much of anythin' meself, but I'm always up fer a challenge.

[titanium_will]

Alright. This place was useless. No real information, nothing one could use. It was entertaining, not educational. Trying to get anything out of Stacy, of course, was like trying to squeeze blood from a stone, and he hadn't really had the hope that anything useful would come out of this.

Still, it sometimes paid to check everything, despite how small or minor the chances may be. Tony was a firm believer in exploring all options. He had simply tried to make the best of the situation.

Unfortunately, the best he could get out of this place was a kick-ass playlist and a media player that he hoped wouldn't come alive and strangle him in his sleep. Music seemed universal. That was interesting, but he wasn't an 'art' guy. Maybe somebody else would come up with a better insight on all that.

Voices were nearby, and he peered into the open podroom. A pair of kids. Pretty much.

"Good luck researching anything. About everything in here is useless. I think the most advanced thing I've found in the listing is a kid's book on motorcycles." Right

[a_short_youth]

"I wouldn't go quite that far," Lucca replied, adjusting her glasses as Tony approached, "though my luck's only been slightly better. Judging from your conversations during the tour, it appeared most of you came for the same or relatively similar timelines, none of which had anything to do with mine. It started to drive me nuts, so I did some digging. Most of the cultural stuff's still flying over my head, but I think I have the broad stroke of your world's history, though things get seriously muddled around the middle of your 20th Century. Facinating..."

A pause. "Hey, it's new to me," she added defensively.

"But what I'd hoped for was some line on the technology here, or on our general location--even a primary school textbook might've helped." She shook her head. "Nothing doing. Whoever our captors are, it would appear they want us blind--and amused enough not to notice."

[titanium_will]

Well, the kid was brainy. Perhaps a little bit mouthy, too, but hell. The smartest people knew they could get away with it. "Yeah, I suppose we've got the lion's share of powerful people onboard. Trust me, I think knowing nobody at all is probably better than having to worry about whether or not somebody knows you from the future. And wants to kill you." So far, that hadn't quite happened, but who knew?

A grin, then, as she decided it was all very interesting. "I guess it'd be great if I was into history." Tony wasn't. He wasn't going to pretend he was. "The technological front is the one that's bleakest. That's what I was after, too."

"Nothing keeps people distracted like a giant television and a million channels. Now if she'd get on supplying the booze and the snacks, she'd have the universe under her sway." At least it had occured to someone else.

[psi_flames]

Tech's all way over me head, Jono admitted, skimming his hand over the top of his hair. I can handle me computer back home enough t' send e-mail an' listen to me CDs. An' I can program the basics into the Danger Room. More than that? He shook his head, putting one hand to his temple.

As fer the booze an' snacks, I'll have t' pass. Some decent music wouldn' go amiss. Or his trenchcoat. Or a guitar. Or sleepin' quarters what don' breathe on you.

[a_short_youth]

Lucca nodded sympathetically, remembering the exchange between Tony, Kate and Vincent during the tour. Being blamed for something one's transdimensional or transtemporal analogue did couldn't possibly be fun. And why did she have the feeling that, lack of recognition so far aside, that she might someday find herself in the same predicament?

"Television," Lucca echoed, filing away the concern for later. "Yes, I recall seeing a few references to it back home, but I never had a chance to try it out."

"nNd I was thinking about the sleeping quarters issue," she continued. "Considering that there's a perfectly good--if creepy--city a few levels down, perhaps we could inhabit the buildings as opposed to the sleeping pods? And there's enough music here, looks like--hmm..."

Then it hit her.

"Maybe we can salvage this trip after all, if you could indulge me for a bit?" She looked at both Jono and Tony in turn, bearing a hopeful grin. The same hopeful grin that, a few years ago and a few dimensions away, caused people to run screaming.

[titanium_will]

The girl was sharp, no doubt about it, and she must have had some sort of experience with this sort of thing. Why did all these young kids know better than he did? It was faintly disconcerting. "Do yourself a favor, and don't try it. Unless you're like me and enjoy news channels." And possibly hearing about himself on them.

A grin was offered to the telepath, then. "Trust me, I've taken a look at it. It's an extensive music list. Wait until you start trying to sift through alien death metal." There was no telling if he was stretching the issue or not. In this place, anything seemed possible.

The city, sleeping there, and for a moment he was considering it. "Well, I guess it depends on if they're furnished. I never got a chance to look inside. Everything sort of went to hell, and I came back up here. Besides, it's eerily quiet.." Well. That's what the music was for.

Then his brows went up, questioningly. "What do you have in mind?"

[psi_flames]

There were reasons that Jono wasn't reacting too badly just yet. And they all had to do with the fact that he had YET to see anything to top the bloody phooka.

Oh, I dunno. Doctor Who's pretty good. But that make jus' be me personal opinion. Grew up watchin' it an' all. Jono's eyes turn up a bit at the corners. News is jus' depressin'.

As about usual, though, the talk of music gets him a little more animated. Death metal's crap. Most metal's crap. Stick wit' punk. Not 'at I'm biased or nothin'. He waved a hand, looking very serious. Then again, this was a very serious question for the musician.

The rest of it made him pause and tilt his head. Can't be any worse 'an Stacy's idea of sleepin' quarters. He shuddered visibly. If we took over a buildin' or summat, wouldn' 'ave to be so quiet. He had no idea if that was what she had in mind, but it sounded like a good start to him.

[a_short_youth]

Listening to their reactions to her bringing up television, Lucca felt deflated. One problem with time travel is that she'd only learned of such technologies after they were moot, forcing her to speculate as to how them might have been utilized. From the looks of it, she hadd hoped for better.

"Well...I was going to inquire if I might get an somewhat accurate picture of culture based off the television holdings here, and where you might suggest a person completely unfamiliar with your world might start." She turned to Tony. "But I'm getting the impression that that might not work as well as I'd imagined. Pity we've no access to your computer networks or the local equivalent, surely we'd find intelligent discourse there..."

A pause.

"...We would, wouldn't we?" she asked, a hint of supplication creeping into her voice.

[titanium_will]

"Of course, you like punk." British kids. At least he thought he'd guessed the accent well enough. "No complaints, though, as long as it's fast and it's loud." Tony had odd tastes, of course, but he was generally unconcerned with that other people liked.

At the sudden change in Lucca's expression, well, he almost felt like he had kicked a puppy. "Too much TV rots your brains." Well, not literally, though he'd seen a few people that he might have almost been able to argue the point. "The thing is, once you get something like that going, and it starts to earn money.. They start catering to the general audience." A grimace, then. "Even the news isn't immune, since certain networks develop a bias towards political groups. It's complicated. And annoying as hell."

"You'd probably get a real kick out of the Discovery channel, though." There were a few beacons of hope, and all that.

Then she brought up the internet, and he had grinned, briefly. "You poor, innocent girl." It hadn't taken long for everyone to go and screw that up. "You can