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]

[There is a gigantic disconnect between Camelot and the colonies.]

It...makes you sick?

[itstopped]

Some do. Sometimes. This kind might be able to help people.

[tinywitch]

How?

[itstopped]

It glows, so if you can get it to stick to the bad stuff...

[tinywitch]

Then - you can see what's making you sick? That's amazing!

[itstopped]

And where it is, and everything.

[tinywitch]

Did you help make it?

[itstopped]

[He laughs. Not in a mean way, but maybe a second later he realizes it could be taken that way, and his smile fades awkwardly. He shakes his head.] I wish. But maybe someday. I'm gonna be a doctor.

[tinywitch]

A - you mean a physician? [The word's familiar, though she can't say why.] That's a noble goal. [She's not taking the laugh too poorly, if only because of his awkwardness.]

[itstopped]

A physician. [He says it like he's correcting himself -- like she's said the proper thing and he hasn't.] I'm going to be a medical officer, actually. On a ship like this one.

[tinywitch]

[And that's definitely caught her interest; it shows on her face.] Really? A ship in the stars?

[itstopped]

That's the plan.

[Wait.] Haven't you ever been on a ship before?

[tinywitch]

[She just shakes her head.] Not even on the sea. I thought it would rock, but there aren't any waves, I suppose.

[a beat] Though I have been here before. I remember that time. But no other ships.

[itstopped]

How do you get to other planets, then? I've only been to Gemenon, but my parents say I can go to Caprica next year. [He puffs up a bit.] Maybe even Leonis or Virgon, if I keep up my grades.

[tinywitch]

Other...planets? [It's a familiar word, one she thinks she understands without being entirely certain of how.] I don't...there's only Earth. What's Caprica? [A beat] What are grades?

[itstopped]

[Lady, what even. He gives her a puzzled laugh. It's clearly a joke, but he doesn't really... get it.] Earth. That's a good one.

[tinywitch]

[They can just be hugely puzzled at each other.]

What's a good one?

[itstopped]

Earth. That's funny. I... guess I'm from Kobol. [He's not sure that's really funny, either, but he's trying to match her on this. He smiles uncertainly, hopefully.]

[tinywitch]

What is Kobol? [she feels like she's missing a joke, but she'd rather know what she's laughing at than laugh just to fit in.]

[itstopped]

[Okay, this is all just... really... confusing. His smile fades away, brow furrowing quizzically.] Do you really not know, or are we still playing? Sorry.

[tinywitch]

I wasn't playing at anything. [At least he looks as confused as she does, now.] I don't know any of those places.

[There's a faint familiarity, like the way you know a distant cousin's distant cousin; like she's heard it before, but can't tell where.]

[itstopped]

[That's weird, he thinks, but then it strikes him that maybe it's not. The people here seem to be from lots of different places. Maybe some of them aren't from the Colonies at all, or are from the really far away ones.

Or...]

Wait, so you're really from Earth?

[tinywitch]

Yes. I'm from Camelot. Have you heard of it? It's one of the great kingdoms in Albion.

[itstopped]

But Earth is just a fairy tale. It's not real.

[tinywitch]

[That gets a laugh, though she doesn't intend it to be mean, and stops when, like him, she thinks he might take it that way.]

I don't feel like a fairy tale.