Re-Entry 14: Spam/Video/Spam

[itstopped]

[Spam for the Lab]

[It's not unusual for Felix to stay in the lab all night if the wardens let him. He insists that he doesn't need much sleep -- so far, this has actually seemed to prove true -- and he tends to get on tears with things that interest him enough. This particular evening, something on Iris's bioreader has him absorbed, and he just doesn't make it back before it's too late to be worth going anyway. In the wee hours of the morning, he winds up drifting off at his station.

He doesn't wake up when the flood rolls in, but a little while later, a young boy -- 11 or so -- wakes to find himself, not in bed, but surrounded by a veritable sea of shining scientific equipment. His eyes widen.]

Cool!

[Video]

[He found two keys in his pocket and he's not sure which is the right one, but going to this one felt more normal, somehow, so it's Dean's room in the background. Felix settles the camera carefully on the desk, fiddles with it for a second, then settles, sitting conscientiously straight-backed.]

Okay, um... [He hesitates, reaches over to fiddle with the camera again, then nods in satisfaction and sits back again. He smiles, but sort of politely.] Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I'm having a good time at camp. [Or... whatever.] I'll be back in a few days. I saw a bioluminescent bacterium and something called a bat flower. [What? It was cool.]

So... have a good weekend, I guess. [His polite surety fades a little. He shrugs awkwardly, then waves again and switches off the feed.]

[Open spam throughout the flood]

[He's heard that this place is a prison, but it's certainly not like any prison he's ever heard of. Not like the ones in the movies, anyway. He'll be busily exploring throughout the flood, poking his nose into just about any place that will let him in, up to and including the infirmary, the CES, the pool... and of course the library.]

Comments

[tinywitch]

A bio - a what?

[itstopped]

A bioluminescent bacterium. [He pauses.] That means it glows.

[tinywitch]

But what is 'it?' A kind of flower?

[itstopped]

[Blink.] No. It's a bacterium.

[intelligently]

Where did you find them?

[itstopped]

The bacterium was in the laboratory and the flower was in the greenhouse.

[intelligently]

You've been busy, then. Have you seen anything else?

Spam

[darknightdamsel]

Barbara's exploring. This place feels safe, familiar - it feels like she ought to be here - but it's not...she's can't summon its schematics at a whim, she can't remember what everything looks like, and that's wrong.

She's going to fix that, and maybe figure out why along the way.

It's only natural, probably, that she's drawn to the lab. She peeks inside, eyes widening at its occupant.

"Hey, are you...okay in here?" Somehow she doesn't think combining a little boy and explosive chemicals is a good idea.

Spam

[itstopped]

He's not little, Babs. He's eleven. "Yeah!" he expulses enthusiastically even as he turns to the door, eyes bright. He reins himself in a second later, though, as if he knows he's behaving improperly. "Uh-huh," he says, more quietly. "Yes. I'm fine."

His eyes are still gleaming, though, and he can't help but look around again. "Do you know what this place is?"

Spam

[darknightdamsel]

Her smile deepens - that's both endearing and, well, a bit sad. She wants to tell him it's okay to be excited, but she only shakes her head.

"Not really. I know we're on some kind of ship, but..."

spam

[fuckvelvet]

[Mal has covertly been exploring the library herself. It's actually the only time she's mildly annoyed rather than angry; at the same time, it's probably pretty obvious that she's not thrilled.]

[Her stack of books is, by this point, fairly unwieldy, so she slides it onto Felix's table without any apparent acknowledgment that there's another person around. Because why not.]

spam

[itstopped]

[In theory, he's still digging through the library's extensive medical research collection. Medicine is the word of the day -- of the year -- and he wants to be able to tell his parents that he came back from "summer camp" with some real learning under his belt.

In reality, though, he's been a little distracted by the fiction section, and hidden inside the cover of Extraordinary Anatomy is a copy of Extraordinary Tales! that gets jostled loose when Mal's books nudge him, and in turn nudge his arm. He looks up quickly with an embarrassed cough, quickly slipping the cover back into place.] Be careful, please.

spam

[fuckvelvet]

[She hesitates. Respect actually does get you somewhere with her. Then folds her arms and leans over his shoulder to try to get a look at what he's reading, because respect apparently only goes one way.]

Fine. What's that?

[venturemistborn]

Camp?

[itstopped]

They keep saying it's a prison, but it's not.

[venturemistborn]

Have you ever seen one?

Spam

[inhistorybooks]

[While Trip doesn't spend much time in the lab, it definitely offers more room to mess around with things like his comm, and - although this is definitely not necessarily 100% why he heads into the lab at this particular time on this particular day - it's a good place to check up on Felix when something like a flood hits.

So he is definitely not surprised when he sees the kid there, although he's left wondering what the hell he's supposed to say to explain what he's doing here. Any explanation he can come up with for the time being sounds pretty insane, or terrifying, and sometimes both.

Probably a good thing that there are shiny things to distract him for the time being.]

Felix?

Spam

[itstopped]

[He turns quickly, like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't -- which is more or less true, anyway. He clasps his hands behind his back, as if to indicate that he hasn't been touching anything at all.]

Yes?

[He... knows this man, although he's not sure how. Something about him is familiar, even though he doesn't recognize his face or the uniform. Still, he was raised to respect the service, so he raises his chin slightly and adds:] Sir?

Spam

[inhistorybooks]

It's okay, [He says automatically when Felix's posture changes. He doesn't care if he tinkers, and he definitely doesn't need him to start acting like he's some kind of hardass military type.] My name's Trip, you don't have to call me sir. Even the people who work for me call me Trip.

[He's still not really sure how to approach this, but not being sure has never really held him back before, so he just blazes on ahead and hopes the explanation he's cobbling together is going to be worth something.]

I'm supposed to keep an eye on you as long as you're here, to make sure you're doing alright and everything. You been in here since you got up?

[ Video ]

[warisart]

I suspect you're transmitting on an unintended frequency, sir. Your message was routed to the public network.

[ Video ]

[itstopped]

Yeah, I'm getting that. I'm not a sir, though. Not yet.

[ Video ]

[warisart]

Then how shall I address you?

[little_red_wolf]

Bats can't be flowers. [She's very stubborn on this!]

[itstopped]

[He manages not to roll his eyes, but the look he gives her is still fairly critical.] It's not a bat. It's a flower called the bat flower. It's black.

[little_red_wolf]

You mean.

It looks like a bat?