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thirstology2018-04-01 12:05 am
futurologists) wrote in thirstology2018-04-01 12:05 am
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TEST DRIVE MEME
FANTASTIC MR. FOX  Welcome to Azeria, a small single-biome planet covered almost entirely by deep, mossy forests. The natives of Azeria, a sapient foxlike species called Vulphytes, have reached out to Hathaway for help in repelling a planetary invasion. Other Vulphyte tribes have sent word of dangerous aliens descending in silver machines and laying waste to the forest, killing and capturing Vulphytes and animals in their wake. Hathaway analysts have calculated that the Merging is to blame for this sudden invasion; before, these two nearly identical universes didn't see each other, but now that they are one, these strangers are suddenly planetary neighbors. The aliens, seeing a new planet, must be searching for colonization prospects, while the Vulphytes are helpless against their spacefaring weaponry. ▸ FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS.On greeting the Hathaway agents, the Vulphytes will initially be very awkward and surprised, or as awkward and surprised as sapient foxes can appear. The Vulphytes speak telepathically, and eventually a spokesfox explains the cause of their discomfort: the invading aliens are humans, just like most of you. ▸ PROMPTS Your mission is simple: protect the Vulphytes, forests, and native animals from the invading humans. It's not necessary to kill all the invaders (unless you want to), simply keep them from taking the planet for their own and do a good enough job to persuade them never to come back. Of course, the invaders are a bit... forceful in their methods, so it's up to you.   The Vulphytes live in a cluster of burrows which are unfortunately not large enough for anything human-sized to visit, but the presence of non-aggressive aliens (that's you!) is enough to get the majority of them to pop out and curiously observe. The Vulphytes are variably black, grey, or red, with fur transitioning to moss along their backs; animals you might see in the forest, including deer, rabbits, and owls, have a similarly moss-covered look. The Vulphytes will take awhile to warm up to anyone who is human (or those who visibly look human), their telepathic tones suspicious as they ask questions about their loyalties, where they're from, and what their homeworlds are like. Those who are clearly not human will receive a much warmer reception, the Vulphytes asking curious questions and the Vulphyte kits trailing behind in fuzzy little rows. When the invaders' silver machines -- spaceships -- become visible in the sky, through breaks in the tree canopy, the Vulphytes look skyward and begin to howl. It's a pre-battle ritual, one of them explains, and characters are invited to join in: howl to the sky, to your enemies, and get ready to fight. TWO ▸ THE INVASION. The silver spaceships of the invaders crash down through the trees, sending animals fleeing in all directions. The Vulphytes stay put, snarling in the direction of the noise and waiting for the invaders to come to them. If you'd like, you can rush forward and head them off -- or stay and fight alongside the foxes. Just as the Vulphytes claimed, the invaders are human. They are dressed in armored space suits, the visors on their helmets obscuring their faces and reflecting the forest all around. Their weapons are various types of laser guns, though a few are holding axes that have laser blades, which they use to start chopping down trees as their compatriots march toward the Vulphyte dens. The invaders are surprised to see people here, but they're not interested in talking: they open fire on anyone they see, not recognizing any of the recruits as their people and thus pegging them immediately as enemies. Though they're aggressive, they're not suicidal; if a single invader encounters too much violence or are outnumbered, they'll run back to their compatriots for reinforcements, so it's best to dispatch them quickly (or prevent them for running for help in some other way). Once the invaders reach the Vulphyte dens, the foxes fight viciously, swarming individuals in a flurry of claws and snarling teeth. Kill the invaders or simply give them enough trouble to make them retreat for good, it's up to you. But either way, look after your furry/mossy hosts; despite their telepathic way of communication, the Vulphytes don't possess any magical abilities, so they'll need to be looked after in the face of laser weapons. THREE ▸ BABYSITTER'S CLUB. The baby Vulphytes are in the greatest amount of danger from the invading humans, being entirely unable to defend themselves and uncertain of what's actually going on. Hathaway has been tasked with rescuing them from their dens and whisking them away to safer areas away from the fighting where they can be cared for until the fighting is over. The only problem is that baby Vulphytes are... well, babies. They're quite upset by all the ruckus, yowling in a way that resembles crying, and aren't exactly happy to be taken away by strangers they don't know. In fact, some of them might try to make a great escape, so you'd better be quick! Those who make it to a safe area will need consoling and, once that's done, entertainment. They'll also need their caretakers to make sure no invaders sneak up on them -- since some are hidden in the woods. It's a big job, but you can handle it, right? FOUR ▸ VICTORY CELEBRATIONS. Once the invaders are finally chased off, everyone gathers together to celebrate. The Vulphytes bow (as well as a fox can) as the team enters and apologize for their uncertainty before; they see now that many of you are nothing like the aliens who threatened them, despite your similar looks. They'd like you all to stay and celebrate, if you have time. The celebrations are... a bit different than most might be used to; it's definitely not a human party. There are games with handmade balls of packed moss, which the Vulphytes seem to love. In fact, they go crazy for Fetch, a game they were never introduced to before due to their tragic lack of opposable thumbs. They "sing" for the team in howls, a rare example of adults not communicating telepathically. As for the team, they receive a congratulatory message from Imogen on their magitek suggesting they take the rest of the celebration to meet and greet with the unfamiliar faces. There won't be much time to do so back at Headquarters, I'm afraid, she adds. Drakstaden awaits, darlings! FIVE ▸ CHIT-CHAT. It's your standard network option. Make battle plans, chat about how cute the foxes are, or share good hiding places. No matter what, you get one username to identify you and one only -- if you don't enter one, it will default to your real name (for example, Voldemort's would be tomriddle.) Choose wisely... or make it assfarts69, if that's your thing. More information on the jewelcomms can be found on the devices guide. SIX ▸ WILDCARD. Do whatever the heck you want! Go pick wildflowers. Climb a tree. Hunt animals. Loot innocent fox dens, you monster. The world is your oyster. ▸ OOC NOTES Welcome to the second test drive meme of Futurology Season 2! This test drive will function as an optional mini-mission for both new and current characters, similar in feel to the missions we have in-game but on a much smaller scale. Threads on this test drive are game canon by default unless one of the participants would like to retcon it. Current characters may use TDM threads for non-!plot AC proofs. Both test drivers and current characters are welcome to top level! While current characters are allowed to tag other current characters, we ask that you please make an effort to be welcoming to test drivers as well! Since incoming characters currently don't have official specializations, we have no specialized prompts. However, feel free to play as if your character is level 1 of whichever specialization you would like to choose. Questions about the game in general can be directed to the FAQ. If you've been with us before, you might notice things look a little different around here. Make sure you check out the welcome page for the basic rundown of how your character joined up with Hathaway. For further information about the game, the full navigation has all the links you'll need. ▸ Upcoming Events (Futurology runs on timezone UTC): |
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We can be more thorough later-- but there's going to be combat happening, and I want to make sure you don't have any major malfunctioning areas before it gets dangerous.
[ Catherine pulls out a rag and some liquid mechanic's soap for removing oil and grease stains, and starts with his hands and arms in an extremely brisk, impersonal cleaning, using rapid strokes. She alternates between the thick soap and wetting the cloth in the creek to wash it off. When his forearms and hands are done, she holds the rag out to him expectantly, letting him do the rest.
She's not here to be a personal servant, okay. Also, if she kept going, it would get weird. ]
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And Catherine showed up here, the first living, terrestrial surface place she’s seen in years, having learned there is a near-infinite multiverse, with some sort of baggage about Simon and immediately focused on him anyway, which... is... he doesn’t even know what to call how he feels about that. It’s a lot.
He picks up where she left off, but only for a moment before he decides he should probably be as close to the water as she is, so he gets up and sits down next to her on the bank, which is great because they can converse to make it less weird while also not looking at each other. ]
So, how’s the... body thing going? You’re free from the box.
[ Simon didn’t think Catherine was that bothered by being in the Omnitool, but earlier she’d made a surprisingly sharp-sounding comment about it not being a great place for her, and looking back, she had said it was disorienting in ways that sounded pretty shitty to him.
That, and of course the very premise — being unable to move and depending on someone else to tote your brain around, never knowing if they might get killed and leave you there — strikes him as horrifying. Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised; of course she didn’t complain more when they were there, she’s Catherine.
Also, okay, maybe she was right. He’s losing some visible grime off the chest electronics, whatever they are, and dunks the rag in the water. This just in: Simon’s gross. ]
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The rules haven't changed just because they're here. A lot is different, but the basic premise of keeping Simon together is a relief in its familiarity. And the truth is... she doesn't want him to not talk to her.
She sits back as he joins her, tacitly on board with the talking without looking at each other plan.
'The box', as he'd put it, wasn't that bad, and she hadn't totally minded it at the time, given her philosophy of focusing on their goals to the exclusion of all personal discomfort, but. It's taken on a new light after their argument, and she's happy to be out of it, even if she'd have picked a different form than this one, if asked. ]
Mostly bizarre, [ she says frankly, but with a quieter tone than she's brought it up with to anyone else who's asked by now. She knows Simon will understand more than any of them. ] I didn't think I'd ever leave it again. And this body-- well-- looks like me. It's kind of freaking me out to feel like I'm back where I started. [ Catherine lets out a breath. Maybe that doesn't make any sense. She ostensibly preoccupies herself with digging through her bag of tools and pulling things out while Simon de-grimes himself-- thank God. ]
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There’s something else that has him looking at her askance, something growing into a lightheaded anxiety. She must be from the future, the way Lucina is from the same world as Lissa, but Lissa is from its pre-war past. Okay. That part sorta makes sense. But the way she’s talking about it doesn’t add up. “I didn’t think I’d ever leave it again”? ] But—
[ He tries and fails to tie this in to what she’s saying, then settles on, ] You said we launched the ARK.
[ As soon as he says it Simon is still, waiting on an answer for a question he couldn’t bring himself to ask, or even pinpoint, and there’s an undertone of helpless appeal in his voice that’s asking Catherine to be the one to work it out, eyes shifting over her face because so much for not looking at each other. She says they launched the ARK, but she isn’t acting like they did; she definitely wasn’t when she got here, and... it’s weird.
The ARK was the only thing they had, and even here, even without that desperation, he dances around confronting the idea that something could go wrong with it. But it happened without him, the him that’s here, and... got weird, apparently. He already kind of regrets bringing it back up. ]
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That's something she hasn't had a chance to properly celebrate yet. She'd had a moment of exhausted, sad self-satisfaction, of victory, before Simon yelled at her, and here... Well, she's spoken to people, of course, but it wouldn't make sense to explain the ARK to them. It would take so long to communicate the magnitude and scope of what they'd done, and at the end of it, there really is no one else who can understand but Simon, anyway.
Maybe if she directs things-- she can have that moment now. Catherine ends up reluctantly smiling, a soft, private look as she comes up to her knees and starts to poke carefully at his chest panels, evading eye contact again no matter what Simon wants. She doesn't know what he's been doing with this suit, but making sure it stays operational as a dive suit is probably wise. ]
We did, [ she says quietly. ] It still seems... surreal. But we did it, Simon. They're out there, somewhere. Even if you don't remember doing it, remember that. It's something we should be proud of.
[ She certainly is. ]
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He’d gotten so used to seeing her as a static image — cascading scan lines and all — that the surreality of it all keeps him from looking away for too long. It’s just So Weird. Not in a bad way, but weird. She’s real, and the sun is on her face and hair, and she’s corporeal... and the content look on her face, eye contact or no, is what bolsters him enough to ask. ]
Then why aren’t you—
[ Somehow he chokes on the question, and redirects it, as if he can engineer it somehow so that the answer is guaranteed to be what he wants to hear if he avoids the wrong words. ] How did you get here? What do I do with it now? I was going to have Hathaway launch it. You know, as the thing they offered us.
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But all that means nothing in the face of Simon wanting to have this conversation again, and after a long moment of her whole face gone tight and blank, she draws up straight, looking at him dead on. ]
Well, your wish was granted. Simon, you don't want to hear the answer to this question right now, so don't ask me. You already know what I'm not saying. [ She is not going through this again. No thanks. Hard pass. Especially not out in public like this. Catherine is frustrated that he's ruining all of her plans to be productive, enjoy herself. Instead, firmly: ] What do you do with what?
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[ So the upload didn’t work. That must be it, if everyone else is okay. The sinking, bitter feeling is there, but it’s remote, blunted by being here, having alternatives instead of the manic desperation of having one single uncertain thing to look forward to.
He picks at the spiraling metal growths on his palms, hunched over with his elbows on his knees. She’s probably right — when he hears things he doesn’t like, he doesn’t tend to react super great, but there’s a long pause before he can rally back somewhat from his surprise at her frustration. ] I was going to have them do it so I wouldn’t have to go back to PATHOS-II. There must be something else I can ask them to do. Maybe they can help the people the WAU’s got down there.
[ You’d think there would be a lot of things Hathaway could do for their Earth, but the no time travel and no resurrecting the dead rules are actually huge roadblocks. ]
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Good, okay, she can handle these factual questions. It takes a little longer for her fingers to unclench enough to go back to examining the dive suit's live support systems, which she does with professional, sure fingers. She's done this particular maintenance many times before, and it shows. Like an astronaut, don't go wandering out into the ocean without equipment you've personally checked over first. ]
That's not a bad idea, [ she answers, even sounding just faintly sympathetic. ] I asked that the ARK be kept safe in space, so you don't need to worry about that. [ It's a concern that had gotten her killed, once upon a time, so Catherine found it weighing heavily on her mind when she'd been asked what she wanted. ]
Well, you don't look too bad, [ she declares finally. It's pretty obvious to someone who's partially lived in one of these things for the past five years that he's taken it out for its intended purpose recently. ] But if you're going to keep going out in the water in this, I want to tweak a few things. The structure gel should be fine submerged, obviously, but I don't know about the rest of you. [ Introducing water to a corpse seems like a great way to get it to decompose real fast, and Simon's body composition has always seemed a miraculous, precarious balance to Catherine. Best not to mess with it. ]
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I only did it once, on the last mission, and it’s still kind of freaky. I’m not planning on making it a habit. [ His voice is a little less animated now, posture stiff. He has ruined the atmosphere to no benefit at all and has Regrets. He is, at least, glad it’s only been a few days for her, because it would suck if she’d waited as long as he has to reunite. She’d be even more pissed and disappointed. He only half-hears what she’s saying about his physical condition, but at fine so whatever. ]
I think we just contaminated the Vulphytes’ water supply, but... thanks. [ the thanks is sincere, and he looks at her to say it; the rest is a halfhearted attempt at a joke... which might be true... oops. ]
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As far as she's concerned, difficult topic over, moving on. Catherine drags herself away from the strain of thinking about what had happened, and how little Simon understands still. ]
They'll be fine, [ she says dismissively. ] Animals can smell contaminated water. All right. [ Catherine sits back and starts putting things away, regaining personal space with some subdued relief. ] You should be okay, but I want to do a more thorough look when we're back. If we can get your helmet off so I can look at the internal electronics, that would be best.
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But they can bargain about that on the ship, because Catherine hasn’t even heard anything about what he’s actually been up to here. Let the record show that Simon Jarrett is/was a functioning grown adult, but there’s also a small childish part of him that feels like like Hathaway is, in relation to Catherine, his cool thing he found that he gets to introduce her to and be the expert on. ]
Did they fill you in on Hanabira? Our last mission. It was like feudal Japan, but a matriarchy. Two empresses were claiming to both rule the same continent, and we had to fix it before war broke out. [ Simon bounces back at the opportunity to talk about the things he’d thought they’d talk about if he ever got the chance. And just as Catherine’s reclaimed physical distance from him he leans toward her slightly, gesturing animatedly. ] It was split into two factions, the Mountain Clan and the Sea Clan, and they didn’t know about merging universes or interdimensional travel, so from each side’s perspective, the other empress just appeared out of nowhere. We had to keep shutting down rebel samurai who wanted war before they could do too much damage.
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Catherine gives him a skeptical look as she takes this in. ] You helped with that? Putting down samurai?
[ Simon, fighting ?? It's not that she isn't interested in this exciting new Hathaway thing, it's just, well, Catherine is unflappable regarding strange new things on a bad day. ]
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[ It’s not like it’s an uneducated shot in the dark, either. Even if the monsters in PATHOS-II were a special case, even if their entire partnership took place in one big special case, Catherine already knows Simon was once some noodly guy who worked in a bookstore and has witnessed many of the most unflattering moments of his life. Even if he were at all inclined to try, he’s not going to be able to convince her that when he’s not screaming WHAT DO I DO? WHAT IS THAT? WHY ARE WE HITTING ROBOTS? in her presence, he is in fact a stone-cold war machine. ] That’s really all you got out of that?
[ And sure, it was mostly just during a hostage situation where all the guards were really inexperienced and didn’t all even have real weapons. but oh my god just let him be cool catherine ]
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Well, no, but it's over with and we're not going back there, right? I don't need to know very much. [ Ruthlessly practical, that's her. Finally fed up with her hair getting in the way, she reaches up to start braiding it over her shoulder, a bit clumsily, given how many years it's been since she's had hair this long. The synthetic strands are slippery, too, so it's not going to stay without a tie, she realizes, but she tries anyway as she talks. ]
It's still hard for me to imagine you've been here so long. [ Not because disparities in timeline from perceived awareness confuse her, obviously, but... ] I guess... I got used to the idea that it was just the two of us out there.
[ This is a surprisingly sentimental admission for Catherine, although she makes it with a matter-of-fact reserve. A lot has happened that this Simon wasn't there for, and it's changed her, subtly. ]
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At this admission Simon glances at her in surprise; it’s resignation she’s talking about, but it’s resignation to the state of sharing a planet with just him, in spite of how exasperating she finds him, so it’s a surprisingly kind sentiment. He looks out across the water, interlacing his fingers. ]
Yeah, me too. [ Having these conversations with Catherine is a considerably more self-conscious affair than Simon’s used to, as someone not nearly as emotionally reticent as she is, and he looks down at his hands. Some of it is unavoidable, because he has no frame of reference for this situation whatsoever. Usually knowing somebody for two days and missing them for four months makes you weird at best, and he’s obviously never met somebody under the circumstances he and Catherine met under. I Appreciate You conversations he can do, but this one requires... a whole new emotional vocabulary. ]
I didn’t think I had, I thought finding out there were so many different universes would make PATHOS-II feel even more like a bad dream. And it did, kind of, but... then it just felt like you were the most... real, certain thing I knew of now, so it was weird that you weren’t around. [ a pause, before he adds, ] I mean, you were ‘around’. I have the Omnitool. But still.
[ And having the Omnitool probably made it a little weirder. In PATHOS-II, when they needed something, it was always Somewhere Around Here, and it never stopped feeling like he should be able to find a terminal to plug her into, which probably wasn’t helped by the fact that Headquarters is not entirely unlike PATHOS when it wasn’t falling apart.
he huffs out a small, awkward half-laugh. ] Weird, right?
[ if he points it out self-deprecatingly it will be less weird ???? ]
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She actually hadn't meant to turn this into an emotionally honest conversation-- she's been stringently trying to avoid that this whole time-- but in this tenor, it turns out to be not too bad. The circumstances they'd met under had been so unique, and Catherine's grown used to talking to Simon about all manner of things that no one else would know, or care, or listen to. They've shared something that can't be explained and can't be replicated, and as it happens, Simon not remembering the latter third of their ocean traipse doesn't change the core foundation they'd acquired.
Even if it still embarrasses her to be called the most real, certain thing I knew of. She'd never thought about what it was like from Simon's perspective-- she hadn't had the time to. Catherine doesn't blush, thank God, but she fidgets, messing up her braid and having to unravel it and start over, compulsively. ]
It only seems weird because we're back to something more normal now... Or so I assume. [ She'd certainly never questioned it as weird at the time. ] I'm-- um-- it would be weirder if you weren't here. [ Even if he doesn't remember everything. That little confession makes Catherine even more awkward and embarrassed, and she pulls in tighter, studiously avoiding eye contact, shy. It's the kind of thing that never comes out in her tone of voice, requires physicality to observe. Them having a mutual physical presence is half of what's having that effect on her, of course.
Quietly, ] I wouldn't want just one of us to get out of there. That would be... hard to live with. [ Guilt isn't something she feels easily, but that would do it. ]
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After a while, the way they communicated in the remains of PATHOS-II started to feel normal, but now he has the surreal realization that this is what he could’ve been seeing that whole time, and— what would he think of her now? If he’d had this extra information from beginning to end, instead of that chipper, bossy voice against anecdotes about a mousy recluse who didn’t sound familiar?
Then his social graces kick in and Simon stops staring at what is still a shy, uncomfortable conversational partner to look off into the middle distance instead, but her... Catherine version of being emotionally open... piques his interest. Her last statement he can agree with, but he had his bases covered by having the Omnitool here, so, onto the other thing. ]
You really think it’d be weird? Even though we already launched the ARK and everything?
[ His tone is curious, devoid of skepticism or accusation. It’s not as if Simon thought she saw him purely as her brain-toting workhorse down there. Given the circumstances, and how much time Catherine spared to talk about all kinds of things despite how little time they had, it just doesn’t seem possible, no matter how impatient she can get with him and how asocial she seemingly was in life. You can’t go through all that with somebody and not get a little attached. It’s human nature, right? But Catherine gives too little of herself away for him to be sure she’d miss him if she worked for Hathaway without him there. ]
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Had his bases covered by a non-functioning Omnitool-- good thing she doesn't hear that one, or it might set her off again. That's not all she is, and if the data's still in there but unable to be activated, she might as well be dead. Yet another thing it does her more damage than good to think too hard about. Catherine needs to just be happy she's here. ]
Of course. Simon, we went through a lot together. The versions of us on the ARK, they're going to be there forever with my old crewmates who got scanned. I was fine with that. This is just a little different.
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Naturally, it didn’t do much to make her absence less... felt. Especially knowing — as far as he had, before she showed up — that he was probably now just as likely to ever talk to her again if the Omnitool was two feet away on the ship as if it was a universe away. But at least her being turned off didn’t leave anything to chance.
...Okay, yeah, existing solely inside the Omnitool in the first place is messed up, but he’s already told her what he thinks of that.
Anyway, unfortunately for Catherine, he looks at her again out of sheer surprise, almost thinking he must have misheard her. ]
What do you mean, you were fine with it? You’re telling me there are copies of us on the ARK, but you didn’t make it, and that was just... okay? You built it.
[ Simon’s ability to reason out how the process must have gone down is marginally better when he’s not tripping and having 500 emotions fall out of his pockets. He sounds more incredulous than anything. It wasn’t the only reason they were doing it, but he can’t wrap his head around being okay with that. This isn’t ‘just a little different’ — the ARK was a last resort, impressive and incredible, but a virtual reality. When you bet your life on a Plan Z, there’s no way you’re in any shape to go ‘oh well’ when it doesn’t pan out. Right?? ]
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She hadn't even known it mattered that much to her in the first place.
She stands up, finally, abandoning her hair in a half-completed, messy braid. That combined with the dirt and dampness seeping into her uniform makes her look like something of a wreck, like she really had come straight from PATHOS-II rather than the interim stop on the ship in between. Catherine looks at him, and speaks in her even, uninflected voice of when she's explaining something she knows he doesn't want to hear. ]
I know you don't understand this, but I only want to go over it once. The original me, the first Catherine-- I built the Vivarium and then the ARK always knowing that I would never get to go on it. Not really. That version of me was always going to stay in my original body.
When we failed to launch it the first time, I had a chance to upload myself again, but the me you knew in PATHOS-II was never supposed to exist. My scan was never supposed to be activated, just like you.
From my perspective, the me that I am right now was never going to be on there in the first place. I accept that what I have is an extra chance. [ And that's the way she chooses to rationalize it. ]
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What are you talking about? You said—
[ He falters. What did she say? There aren’t any specifics that he remembers, but it felt so certain. ] We talked about it like it would be us on the ARK. You knew the whole time?
[ The ARK is no longer his last shot at salvation from an eternity at the bottom of the sea, and so when he looks back on it, he’s simply stymied, recalling a whirlwind of confusion and able to imagine that maybe he made an assumption or two in the process, but no less baffled for it. ]
How were you so calm about it? I couldn’t even think about— what we would do if it didn’t work out. I thought we were saving ourselves.
[ If Catherine is surprised she has to explain how the ARK launch would work, Simon is just as surprised that they could have such different understandings of the blood-freezing, animal fear of the very outcome she’s saying she was prepared for all along, and the helpless astonishment is evident in his voice. It had never occurred to him to even evaluate it, the desperate desire to be saved from that existence, or to imagine that they weren’t on the same page about it.
What he had was an extra chance, too, and the things he missed that the human Simon experienced afforded him extra practice in running from finality. Extra ways to avoid confronting endings he doesn’t like. In one big cosmic joke, it’s the exact kind of break Simon in particular can’t exactly be trusted with. ]
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[ After Omicron. Which hasn't happened yet for him. God, this conversation isn't the one she wants to have, and it feels equally as fruitless as that one probably would be.
Catherine tries to fold her arms, but ends up hugging herself, an entirely different image than what she wanted to project. ] I'm disappointed, too. --Are we done talking about this?
[ Because she's done. She feels very much done. Telling Simon how achingly, devastatingly disappointed she is isn't going to get her anywhere. ]
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[ Sometimes Catherine seems like she’s being pedantic, because what else would he mean every time he says stuff like that, but now Simon looks at her shrinking stance and feels bad. She did build the ARK, and even if she disputes the meaningful distinctions of them-as-they-exist-right-now, she looks like she’s seriously feeling it. ]
I didn’t say I was disappointed. I mean, look at where we are. [ He gestures out across the water. ] We went from one dead Earth to a... practically infinite multiverse.
[ It feels weird to see such displays of... kind of... misery... from somebody he knows and likes and feel like he’s doing too little to be conciliatory, but for some reason it’s awkward. It’s like Catherine is a porcupine and shedding quills of social awkwardness as a defense mechanism. ]
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Last time being, well, a different Simon. Why would she be dumb enough to repeat herself? ]
You might think so, [ she says tightly, ] but I would never agree to be here if we hadn't launched the ARK already. It's important to me that those versions of us, and all of my crewmates, are out there among the stars. I couldn't just leave them at the bottom of the ocean, dead forever, no matter what happened to me, myself.
This was an unexpected bonus. Look-- I know we see things differently. You don't have to hammer it in. Can't you just be happy we succeeded?
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