(Untitled)

[godischange]

Lauren was outside, contemplating the dead sky and earth, wondering how the world could be reborn from this seeming corpse.

Could be patrol time, or she could just be out in the open air. You make the call.

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[cpttightpants]

Mal's hand twitched over the side of his long brown coat that covered the pistol in the holster at his hip. The ground crunched beneath his feet as he stepped outside and around the building where he found a woman standing alone. "Didn't mean to disturb. Just lookin' about." He said, starting away from her.

[cpttightpants]

"Me and mine... we're the thievin' types. I mean we transport things for money too but when the right job comes along... we do some thievin'. Only we're stealin' from the Alliance... government type thing." Mal said with a wry grin. He almost looked proud. "Nice makin' them look like the idiots they are. We just try to keep work to keep the ship in the air and food in our mouths. Alliance ain't so heavy in the sky. People can't be tellin' you what to do or who to be up there."

He glanced at Lauren. "Ever been up with the stars?"

[godischange]

"We try not to be the ones to steal. Our community usually worked since people would help others, and we'd be stronger overall because of it. Mostly we got by on what we had since money was so scarce."

Lauren remarked, "It's not thieving when you're trying to survive, and get food in your belly. The kind of thieving I mean is taking something from somebody else so they can't survive. Taking their home, their water, their food. That's what some of these gangs did to us."

She added in a quieter tone, "Not yet. But I'd like to." The future of humanity.
Earthseed.

"The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars." came a quiet recitation as a postscript to her last statement. Feeling it was safe to mention it.

[cpttightpants]

"Earth that was?" Mal asked quietly and shook his head. "Y-you're from Earth that was..." He'd heard that people were from different times, worlds, and verses here. It still amazed him. "I guess I'm from... from your future by a long stretch of time. From a planet called Shadow."

[godischange]

Lauren nodded, "I'm from Earth yes. People had gone to Mars in my time, but then the new president wanted to kill the space program. Claiming it was a waste of money. When I came here, it was end of July 2027."

She added, "Good to hear people made it to other worlds after that though, if it's the same universe and timeline."

[cpttightpants]

"Ain't a waste of money." Mal smirked lightly. "Just another way for them to be controllin' you."

[godischange]

"I know it. But many people were too scared and desperate to realize it." Lauren agreed readily.

"And yes, control. Debt slavery in fact. Claim to help people, but then work them to death to pay back their so-called help. No way to live. But many people, including from my community would rather be enslaved in comfort than be free." It was obvious what she thought of such an idea.

[cpttightpants]

Mal looked over to Lauren, his brow furrowed. "Time don't change people, I'm guessin'. To me there ain't no price I wouldn't pay for freedom."

[godischange]

"Freedom's too important. Always can find another way to adapt and survive if you're free. But enslaved to another? Now your survival's on their whim, not yours."

Lauren gravely replied, "That's not living. It's not dying either. It's nothing. Limbo."

[cpttightpants]

"Limbo ain't a place I like to be." This place reminded him too much of Limbo... perhaps the reason for his uneasiness in it and the overwhelming need to get away.

He took a step towards Lauren and held a hand out to her. "Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Think 'sides my crew you're the first level headed person I met here."

[godischange]

Lauren shook his hand readily, "Good to meet you, then Captain. I'm Lauren. Lauren Olamina."

After she let his hand go again, she added, "Thank you, but I just know what's necessary to survive. Change happens all the time, and you have to change with it. Let it help you rather than hurt you." The youth belied her experience of struggle, and the hard fought knowledge and wisdom she had obtained.

[cpttightpants]

"Preachin' to the choir, Ms. Olamina." Mal gave her a light grin then looked around the imediate area. "Ain't rightly sure 'bout acceptin' this though... I'm a fighter... need my ship. Feel trapped without her. Don't like bein' trapped."

[godischange]

Lauren nodded, "Only thing you can do for now, Captain. But there's always Change. Might be able to see the stars again soon. A lot of random supplies around. We haven't had much luck with the scavenging parties, except for random parts really."

[cpttightpants]

"My mechanic'll make a ship. Got all the faith in her." Mal said confidently. "Just findin' some kind of fuel source that'll be hard."

[godischange]

Lauren nodded, "I don't remember coming across leftover gasoline in those abandoned cars. Might still be a supply somewhere if they weren't all destroyed. Otherwise, if we can get some plants growing, can use the oils from them. But that'll take too long."

[cpttightpants]

Mal liked that Lauren seemed to have a will to get elsewhere and a mind for it too. "Can't fuel an engine for a space transport with gasoline. Too combustable with the atmo up there. Gotta find somethin' else." He drew a deep, thoughtful breath. "There a wasteland? Where's all the garbage and the like go?"