trans_9 | For wisdom is better than jewels [Open]

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For wisdom is better than jewels [Open]

Sitting on a bench under the shade of a large tree within a garden of the Vatican City, Ghanima Atreides was slowly reading the large book that sat on her lap. She had found an old Roman Catholic Latin Bible in one of the rooms of the 'Casina' of Pius IV that she, along with Alia and Duncan - or Hayt - had claimed as their own.

She had needed time to herself, time away from worrying about her aunt, and how her aunt was taking the news of how Hayt had no recollection of his marriage to Alia. It was sad, though she was sure that time would only lead the two on the path they both belonged on - such was the way of life.

She had chosen a small garden as her refuge, and had found she enjoyed the silence that surrounded it. It seemed as though the Vatican City was not a place that many ventured to, and for that Ghani was indeed pleased.

While many from her world had forgotten the old Earth languages, Ghani had always enjoyed speaking, and using them as a way to communicate with her twin brother, Leto. It had been their secrect way of communicating when they didn't wish others to know what was being said. It was one of the gifts that having so many Other Memories had given them. And it was a gift that provided useful now as she read over the Latin words.

"*... melior est enim sapientia cunctis pretiosissimis et omne desiderabile ei non potest conparari. Ego sapientia habito in consilio et eruditis intersum cogitationibus." Ghani read aloud and couldn't help but agree with the small two verses.

*Proverbs 8:11 and 8:12
11 "For wisdom is better than jewels ; And all desirable things cannot compare with her."
12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion."

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Lone is about as sane as they come in the Wasteland, for what that's worth.

"Must be worth a fair bit, then?" and Lone's mind defaults to value. If she can't use it for something, then it can be sold to buy useful stuff with. "Used to be a women I knew, was collecting up all the old books to make sure that they would still be around. Helped her out a couple of times."

Ghani's mind flickered back to the part of the verses she'd just read. For wisdom is better than jewels. Though Ghani herself had never had to worry about money, she found herself agreeing wholeheartedly once again with the words from the old Bible.

"I suppose so," she said slowly. "Though here, I do not believe such things matter." Her head titled slowly to the side, her eerie blue-within-blue gaze taking in every aspect of the woman before her.

"Then that woman was indeed wise. Without knowledge, civilizations are doomed to fail in the most miserable of ways."

"Would have thought that caps would matter everywhere," Lone is curious about the idea. "But, if they don't matter, then they don't matter."

It's then she actually notices the eyes of the woman that she's talking to. Her first reaction is to step back, before bringing up her arm, and checking the device on her wrist.

"Nope, still no radiation. You're talking too well for a mutant, and you don't look like a Ghoul. You do /know/ your eyes are weird, don't you? What happened to you?"

Ghani had no idea what these caps were the woman was talking about but she supposed they were some sort of payment used where ever she was from.

One eyebrow shot up and she couldn't help but stare, truly stare at the woman before slowly shaking her head. "Nothing," Ghani retorted, her expression calm, serene even. "You do know you have no tact, don't you? What happened to it?"

Edited 2010-02-03 13:25 (UTC)

Lone settles down somewhat. "Sorry, but where I'm from, ghoulification is something you /don't/ want happening to you. This place is freaky enough as it is without my skin starting to fall off."

She takes one last glance at the Geiger counter. "Tact tends to fall by the wayside when I'm worried about things. Much easier just to say things as they are."

"Ghoulification?" Ghani repeated, obviously not familiar with the word at all. The ship really did pick the strangest people to bring forth as part of the crew. "What sort of world do you come from?" She can't help but wonder... Any place though where one's skin might fall off, really didn't sound all that appealing.

"Ah," Ghani murmured. So she was worried and she felt that gave an excuse for being rude? Ghani herself preferred truths, but there was a thing, obviously, called tact. "What are you worried about?"

"Yeah, it's what Three Dog calls it when someone gets turned into a Ghoul. Something to do with overexposure to radiation, I think. Most of 'em go a bit mental and hang out in stations and sewers, places like that. Attack you when you're passing through. Others are more friendly," Lone explains, or tries to. "My world, it's mostly rubble I guess. Nuclear war wrecked everything."

"Just worried about this whole thing. About my friend Fawkes, and Dogmeat. Sarah and the rest of the Pride. Three Dog and the rest of the people in the Wasteland. They say there's a chance they're here, somewhere, but most likely, they're dead. Seems odd, surviving the Wasteland to end up wiped out by something so quickly. My home, gone. All these strangers here. This Nightmare King everyone's talking about."

Lone looks at Ghanima. "Are you not worried?"

Luckily Ghani was able to follow most of what the woman was talking about. It appeared that humanity, no matter the version of it, seemed intent on trying to wipe themselves out in some way. "That is truly sad, I am sorry," Ghani said quietly.

Of course a small part of Ghani was worried - worried that her brother wouldn't be down in the pods, worried that Alia would truly succumb to Abonimation, worried that she'd be stuck on the living ship forever. Though she didn't allow her worries to interfer with her existance. It was strange though, she was no longer worried about her world possibly being destroyed.

"Of course I'm worried, though I tend not to dwell on them as I can do little to change some of what I am worried about."

Lone offers a smile of acknowledgment for Ghanima's sympathy. It is nice to know that someone else does care, even a little bit. "Thanks. But, even if it's a bad world, it's the only one I had. Even if a lot of it was trying to kill me when I met them," and there's humour in her voice.

"Well, at least you do worry. I suppose it makes sense to only think about what you can change, and let everything else sort itself out. Takes a while for that to sink in here though. You been here long?"

A whisper of a smile flickers across Ghani's lips. She could understand missing one's world - for she did miss her own. She missed the warmth, the smells, the people... She just didn't worry about it's fate any longer. "You're from a version of Earth then?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, I've been here for some time now. Though how long it's been, I really don't know as there's really not a way to record time here that I've heard of," she replied as she set the Bible on the bench beside her. "And you?"

"Yeah," Lone replies. "Till I got here though, I guessed my Earth was the only Earth that there was. Think most others feel the same way though."

She goes back to leaning against the tree, but seems to be finding it hard not to sneak peeks at the blue-within-blue eyes. Now that she knows it's nothing serious, it's rather pretty.

"Not long at all. Most of you were off the ship at the time, doing something. Never got the story straight on that one, but it doesn't matter much. I'm Lone by the way, I keep forgetting to tell people my name."

"The Earth in my world had been destroyed long before I even got here," Ghani informed the woman truthfully. "But yes, I do think a great many believed their worlds to be the only version."

Her smile grew slightly, "I wasn't involved with that mission, but it had something to do with... Christmas, I believe. What exactly, I'm not sure though." She was actually happy in a way she hadn't gone as Alia had shown up, and she? She had been... A little overwhelmed by everthing.

Ghani, nodded her head in a respectful manner toward Lone, as she folded her hands together and rested them on her lap. "It is an honor to meet you, Lone. I am Ghanima Atreides."

"Destroyed? You meant everyone wiped out? Or actually destroyed, the whole planet just gone boom?" Lone asks for clarification. Wiping out, well, she can understand how that could happen, but if the whole planet was gone...that was another thing entirely.

"Christmas? Haven't done anything for that in a while. Think I spent my last one hiding from a Mirelurk," Lone takes a moment to think. The Overseer was very keen on maintaining things just as they were before the war.

"Pleasure, Ghanima Atreides," and Lone speaks the name slowly, trying to get her tongue around the words.

"Humanity hasn't lived on Earth for many tens of thousands of years," Ghani explained simply, not going into details - details that had been long forgotten by many in her world. "It's a place that has been forgotten. Perhaps it is best, since so much horror had happened there." The war against the machines for one, and how those machines had almost wiped out humanity.

She thought for a moment, searching through the Other Memories, trying to find out more from them about Christmas. Voices shouted at her, demanding attention and she quickly snapped her mental wall back up - holding them back from trying to overtake her mind. "I do not know this Christmas. We have nothing like that where I come from. Though it is my understanding that it is an old Earth Holiday? One that celebrates the birth of the Prophet Jesus, am I correct?"

She turned her head slightly, a simple gesture to many, but with Ghani it was graceful as were most of her movements. "Please, you may call me Ghani if it is easier for you to say."

Edited 2010-02-04 11:42 (UTC)

The concept of tens of thousands of years is a bit much for Lone to grasp, and she looks a little gormless as she tries to work this out. "That sounds...awful doesn't even cover it. I thought we were bad enough. So, where do you live then, if you don't live on Earth?"

Lone hasn't met someone from another planet (well, at least till she came here). She's met people that acted as if they were from another planet i.e crazy, though. "I'm not sure if our Christmas is the same as the usual Christmas. The boss of the place where I used to live was a little crazy. The Overseer was his title. So the holiday was about him, mostly."

Lone never liked the Overseer, and giving him presents was annoying.

"Ghani, thank you. My given name is actually Rebecca, but most people call me The Lone Wanderer From Vault One Oh One, which is far too much of a mouthful. So Lone does."

"I live on a planet called Arrakis, also known as Dune by my people." She smiled, thinking of the place she'd called home. She really did miss it, now that she was actively thinking about it.

She shook her head though and focused on what Lone was saying. "Sounds like he thought himself to be most important if he sought to center a holiday solely around him." Her brow arched a little, little people with big egos always seemed to be a problem no matter where one was from.

"Would you rather I call you Rebecca or Lone?" Ghani asked, her head tilting ever so slightly to the side.

Lone laughs. "You have no idea, Ghani. We had to do a test to find out what job we would do in the Vault for the rest of our lives. You know what one of the questions was?"

She concentrates for a moment, trying to remember the exact inflection that the examiner used. "Who is indisputably the most important person in Vault 101: He who shelters us from the harshness of the atomic wasteland, and to whom we owe everything we have, including our lives?"

"That's how bad it was. Glad I shot him in the head," and she returns to her normal speech. "And whichever you want to call me, though I might take a minute to answer if you call me Rebecca. After I left the Vault, only Dad used that, really. And the mercs."

Ghai's eyebrows both shot up at that. Really the Overseer did indeed sound most self-important. "I suppose the rest of the people in your vault were thankful that you shot thise man in the head?"

She thought for a moment, before offering the other woman a smile. "I think I'll call you Rebecca, since it is your given name."

"Well..." Lone hesitates. "His daughter was, sort of. Took her a while to come around. The others were a bit miffed, probably because they had to think for themselves after that. I just left them to it."

She isn't going to go into any more details about that, she's still smarting that after she pulled their asses out of the fire a second time, they still weren't more grateful. Morons, the lot of them.

"Okay, I'll remember to listen for that," and Lone smiles back. You've made a friend, Ghani.

"Perhaps in time they did come to understand and be grateful for what you did." Or not, people were strange that way.

She smiled back at Rebecca. "Good." She tilted her head a little to the side. "Have you met a lot of the crew since you've been here?"

Lone shrugs. "Probably not, but I've given up worrying about it. Too many things trying to kill me sorta takes the edge of disapproval. And no, not a lot. Saw a pile when I woke up, but not many to talk to. Ran into a couple of people that seemed nice enough, and one guy that thought he was something special. How 'bout you?"

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