lingeringlegacy | 07 ☆ Returning Returner

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07 ☆ Returning Returner

The Tree has seen fit to greet my return from the elevator with a flashy getup I cannot change out of and alterations to my personal effects. I suppose it confirms that one thing has not changed since I last wrote.

Youth, 00, Smoke, Mindelan, Gene, Huo & Hawk - My gratitude for your concerns. I am safe and sound. It was difficult to tell apart day and night back there, but from the cycle of eating and getting hungry, I estimate 1-2 days have passed. Yet, the number of journal pages filled suggests a longer period. How long have I been away? I ~~mis~~ would enjoy meeting you over a cup of tea or coffee. Or pie or pasta. Or anything, really. Foodless is fine too.

Dr Valeth and [Housekeeping NPC supervisor] - My apologies for the absence. I shall report for duty on Monday if it is acceptable to you. By acceptable I also refer to the long fringe trims on my jacket. They look awfully easy to get caught in things.

How did post-hurricane cleanup go for everyone? My house got through just fine, but the humidity seemed quite severe, judging from the state of my components rack. (Unlikely but) does anyone have a proper chamber oven for baking PCBAs? Otherwise I'll have to use a toaster oven but... not sure if the heat distribution's even enough.

-Stellaris

[ooc: Mun feels like going local. For the Rockstar event, Stellaris is dressed as Anggun from her 90s 'lady rocker' days [1][2], meaning: red beret & garish fringe jacket, with black top, denim shorts and suede boots. Accessories include xbox hueg digital watch, at least 3 necklaces and enough bangles to compete with an Indian bride.]

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[His eyes widened visibly at this news. That wasn't what he had expected to hear. Though it did seem to answer whether the receptacles were meant to hold people or not.]

Damn. That sounds really claustrophobic. [It would be hard to miss the unease evident in her voice and expression.] ...Are you all right?

[Sure, she had seemed physically sound, but that didn't necessarily cover all the bases of well-being.]

[It was embarrassing to be seen unable to control her emotions. She thought it was over; the visceral reaction should have stayed behind after leaving that room. She looked down at her shaky, clasped hands on the table—when it started shaking, she didn't know.

The waitress arrived with their order at that moment. Seeing Stellaris' pale face, she cast a suspicious glance at Gene while setting their cups on the table.]

[The waitress's suspicious look was met with a look that said she could very well bugger off. The woman narrowed her eyes at him, sniffed indignantly, then turned to see to another table.]

Hey... [Gene hadn't missed the fact that her hands were shaking. He reached out to rest a hand on top of her clasped ones.] I guess avoiding small spaces made of glass is something to keep in mind for the future, hm?

[There was a bit of levity to his voice, an effort to make whatever it was that was getting to her seem less dire.]

[Stellaris briefly caught the waitress' look and sniff as she turned to thank her for the coffee, but she forgot what she was going to do when the surprise touch landed on her hands. At first she stiffened, before letting out a whiff. Something was unclogged in her mind but made her want to simultaneously laugh and cry.]

That was... I... seem to be growing a list of things to avoid, do I? And I had wanted to just... relax today. With you and the others.

[She tried smiling, and got the intent in Gene's tone, but at the moment many emotions flurried inside her brain.]

[He caught the stiffening in Stellaris's posture, but attributed it the subject matter making her jumpy. Her statement only furthered that impression.]

That tends to happen a lot around here, sorry to say. [He had certainly accumulated his fair share of things to avoid. Gene gave her hands a small squeeze before letting go in order to set the guitar slung over his back on the ground, as it had started to dig into his back.]

So how many of the others have you managed to run across today? [It seemed like a subject change was in order. As shaken as Stellaris appeared to be, it didn't look like talking about the fourth floor was going to get anywhere.]

Edited 2010-11-12 18:52 (UTC)

Everyone takes it so well, I don't know why I—

[She felt a pang at the squeeze on her hand, unsure if she wanted his hand to stay or leave. She did not know why certain things filled her with dread. The first trail of thought was something—or things—must have happened in her past life. Bad things. Things that made her scream in that dream as if her throat was going to burst. Reaching for the latte cup and sipping the warm drink gave her something to do, at least.]

...I went to 00's house earlier, then met Gai for a sushi lunch.

I don't know if I'd say that. Sometimes it's easy to miss when people take something badly.

[He had certainly had his share of negative reactions, though his first instinct was to pull away and avoid everyone when something truly bothered him. He wasn't exactly the type to talk it out.]

Is that so? Gai... didn't make the sushi himself, did he? [He had heard things about Gai's cooking, but it was hard to tell if Bell was exaggerating about that or not. And she wasn't showing any signs of food poisoning, which was encouraging.]

Edited 2010-11-13 20:00 (UTC)

[What Gene said was logical. But in so many occasions all she saw was her getting moody or distressed while people remained steady. She heaved a sigh and remarked meekly.]

Sometimes it just feels I'm worse at handling it than most...

[But instead it was like hitting an invisible wall, multiple times because you were never sure where the boundaries lied. And the current trail of conversation could not be fruitful, she thought.]

No, we went to a joint near the burger place. Have you ever been there?

Eh, reactions like that are usually pretty circumstantial. I'm sure the roles are likely to be reversed at some point. [He shrugged, leaving it at that.]

Can't say that I have. [His brows draw together and he looks a little leery.] Raw fish was never much of a draw for me. I feel like it might twitch when I'm least expecting it.

Hmm. You could be right.

[She closed her eyes for two seconds, composing herself. Perhaps it was still hard to recall her fourth floor experience, but she told herself that after getting calmer, she could just write it down in her normal notebook and show it to Gene later.]

Is that so? [His leery look pulled a soft laugh.] When the ingredients are fresh, like what I just had, I think they're delectable. But they serve cooked, fusion-types too if you ever want to try.

I... think I'll try my hand at that cooked version before venturing into any raw food frontiers.

[It wasn't that Gene wasn't adventurous, or disinclined to experiment. But... he just had a hard time fathoming why someone would have something raw when taking the next step to cook it couldn't take that long.]

Going step by step is not a bad idea. I would vouch for that shop's salmon and tuna, though. Even though it does make me curious where they keep the fish without a sea.

[She turned her eyes at his, tilting her head.]

So... you told me about other people's happenings, but what about yourself? Did anything interesting lately?

You bring up a good point about where they get it. The only body of water I know of around here is the freshwater lake.

[Said point really just served to make him more suspicious of the food, despite the glowing reviews.

The question about his own activities caused Gene to pause for a moment. The first thing that came to mind was the argument he'd had with his brother... and he hardly wanted to get into that.]

I'd told you that a good bit of repair work went on after the hurricane, right? Unfortunately, I had to spend a decent amount of time on my own place. It didn't fare well. [He sighed and shrugged.] It's a kick in the pants, but it gave me an excuse to do something about the insulation before winter came.

There was also an odd little incident involving the food in the Sphere. [Gene's expression cooled considerably at the memory. He wasn't easily offended, but the implications made still pissed him off.]

A fishtank, maybe? Like the farm? [It was yet another curious matter about their lives, like when asked a question she could not answer about where the rubbish chute in Housekeeping HQ lead to. If she would proceed with her plan of making a record of Sphere-related information, such questions would have to be addressed eventually.]

The sections seem to have been patched up nicely, when I passed them on the way here. Yes, wood alone doesn't really suffice. Have you got any idea how to do the insulation?

And you mentioned something earlier about food. That they were shaped like people? ...don't tell me the likes of gingerbread men came alive like Wilderness mannequins.

I suppose it's possible. Someone might have harvested the fish from a Wilderness that did have seawater.

There are a few places in the scrapyard that actually have slabs of walls. I've scavenged some insulation from that. It's a pretty piecemeal method, but better than nothing.

[He chuckled a little, amused at the suggested possibility.] No, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened at some point. These were ordinary pieces of food shaped like real people in the Sphere. It was less than appetizing.

They'd need a cryogenic freezing system to keep the fish that fresh, though.

[She nodded along as he explained. He seemed to have it thought up well.] Section 3 has insulation, but no thermal control. I'm not sure how cold winter here would be... do you think I'd need to prepare something?

[The next bit got her to pause and frown.] Sounds like a bad joke.

Well, I meant more that they'd need to get the fish from the Wilderness in order to set up those tanks you mentioned. Though a less sophisticated form of freezing probably isn't out of the question.

It can get pretty damned cold. We had an ice storm last year and my space heater became my new best friend. I'd definitely recommend finding one at Stuff Inc, if you can.

[Gene let out a sardonic snort.] You should have seen the punchline. Little aprons that said "Second Annual Edensphere Barbecue".

Hmm, good idea. Perhaps I'll stop by tomorrow. If not space heater then at least an electric blanket.

[Her smile turned wry, but something in his sentence did not register to her.]

Second? So last year you had a similar event?

[Close was she to saying 'last year it mocked us the same way', but remembered where they were.]

Sounds like a plan.

Last year had a large fire put the Sphere in a really bad way. Took place on the same day, it seems. [Shakes his head. He was hardly the most tactful or reverent man in the Sphere, but that little joke pushed even his buttons.]

It hit worse than the hurricane? What caused the fire?

[Though it was not at all hard to imagine how bad a fire can mess up a megastructure built mostly on wood.]

There was no warning and people died. So yeah, worse than the hurricane. As for the cause--[He thought back to the mysterious coded hint they received over the journals. "Fugue did it. Fugue did it." Though he believed it, the informant admitted they had no real proof, only an inkling]--no one really knows.

[He hitched one shoulder upward in a shrug, then took a sip of his now room temperature coffee as a means of masking his expression, which he was sure came off as none too charitable at the moment.]

[She sighed. It was like a scientific law that sooner or later any ponderance hit the wall of "no one really knows".] The people... did they come back?

I know some did. Probably even most, but I doubt that everyone was accounted for. It was a lot of people.

[The sigh caught his attention. This... likely wasn't the sort of conversation she was looking to have right after getting back to the Sphere.]

I suppose we're lucky, in a way. Despite the tacky commemoration, we didn't really have any repeats of the situation. [He waved a hand to indicate the general area around them.] After that, it's been pretty tame, really. A few weapons missing, some language censored, and an odd costume change. [He tapped at his armour-like shoulder pads for emphasis.]

So now you're up to date.

Just looking at people going at their everyday lives, I wouldn't have guessed something like that has happened. Perhaps in a way we grow... stronger. I don't know if that's the right word.

[Natural disasters taking many lives was not something extraordinary, but on a small community the effect would be more severe. And no one could guarantee it won't repeat, she thought. How easy it was to slip into negative thoughts in this place, even when the weather was nice, the wind was comforting and the latte tasted good.

Yet she would still prefer it to being alone in that space station.] I guess I am, now.

What can I say? We're a resilient bunch.

[If only because they had to be. She was right, they became stronger, adapted to their surroundings... it wasn't all bad. Not all good by any stretch of the imagination, but not all bad, either.]

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07 ☆ Returning Returner

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