trans_9 | Keeping Occupied

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Keeping Occupied

Cale stood in the media library in one of the pod-rooms, the broken pod-room, to be exact. His brow was creased and his nose scrunched up as he concentrated on the bizarre-looking terminal on the wall. He pressed one of the buttons and got a low ‘beep’ in reply, but the screen remained blank. He tried another. Another beep, still blank. He frowned but he wasn’t giving up. With practically nothing to do on this ship—what with the medbay taken over by the crabby green guy and this being the only other area left on the ship (the sensoriums were almost in constant use by other crew members) with any kind of identifiable technological aspect to it, Cale was determined to at least keep himself busy. And busy meant trying to TURN THAT DAMN SONG OFF!

Over and over the thing had repeated. Never stopping. Never giving even a moment’s break, and with the door wide open and it playing full volume, it was impossible to concentrate anywhere else in the media library—which is what he’d been trying to do earlier. Now, he was determined to fix what was broken…or at least drive himself crazy trying.

Beep. Beep-beep. Beep. Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep. Beep.

There! Right there! He’d had it. It went away but he’d still had it, if only for an instant. The screen flashed for just a moment and then went black again. He was making progress, getting closer. It was just a matter of time before that painstakingly awful song was gone for good.

“Yeah, and you thought I couldn’t do it, didn’t you,” Cale said aloud, apparently speaking to the troublesome terminal. “Well, I’ve got news for you buddy, I am about to own you.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It is if you have superheroes... But I take it not in your world or universe right?"

"Superwhat?"

"Superheroes. People who dress up in costume and stop the bad guys. Sometimes they have powers."

"Dress up...in costume...to stop bad guys?" Cale repeated slowly, hoping that--if he did--she'd realize how dumb that sounded. "They do that where you're from?"

"Well yeah, do so to protect their identities from their enemies. And sure, several just in New York alone." Her included in that number, and fixed him a pointed look.

Cale stares at her blankly for a few moments before speaking. "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

Kate fixed him a look, "You think so, or you just saying that because you like to piss people off? Or do you just not care about anything?"

Cale shrugs.

"Caring is over-rated. You waste all that energy for what, one big disappointment after another. No thanks. I'll pass."

Kate studied him a moment, and she quietly added, "So when the Earth was destroyed, you let yourself be destroyed with it? The Yeerks would have loved you, wouldn't be anything left to shove out."

"The who?" Cale asked, then remembered about the brain slugs that had infested certain members of the crew before he'd woken up and what they were called.

"Oh yeah, the mind-controlling slugs," he said. "No I didn't let myself get destroyed. I just moved on. Stopped holding on to the past. You know, started over? It's this thing that humans do."

She wasn't going to explain a lot about them, the memories and pain were still too raw.

"Humans on occasion also give a damn. Caring's part of it. Or just feeling in general."

He rolled his eyes at that.

"Geez, is everyone around here this dang sentimental? You're like the fourth person to be all 'how can you not care?'" Cale criticized. "People like you are why humanity is dying where I came from."

Kate snorted and then got in his face, "No I want to protect others and fight for them *because* I care. Shouldn't you care more to protect what's left then?"

"I am what's left. Or, at least, part of it, and I'm protecting that," Cale answered, not backing down as she got in his face. Then the corner of his mouth quirks up into a half-smirk

"Your nose crinkles up when you get mad. Did you know that?"

Her hands balled into fists, and she shot back still in his face, "You sound like a bigger jerk when you say lame pick up lines. Did you know that?"

"See! That right there," Cale said, ignoring her comment about him being a jerk and pointing his finger at Kate's nose. "You just did it again."

"That's besides the point!" She huffed at him, and went to bat his finger away.

"Oh yeah? What was the point?" Cale retorted. He's such a pain in the butt. ~~Cute though!~~

"That you're a heartless jerk who probably cares more about machines than people," She bluntly stated. Sometimes she had big mouth and lack of tact.

"Heartless...?" Cale looked at Kate, confused. Someone else had called him heartless. Recently! "You've been talking to Leela, haven't you?"

Kate shook her head, "No, saw her at the meeting, but we hadn't talked."

She then smirked, "You're just upset because it's so obvious."

"Am not!"

~~Yay for maturity!~~

"Are too," More smirking from her this time. Still in his face.

"You're obvious!" Cale retorted. ~~Nice comeback!~~

Kate snorted at that, and shot back, "Obvious about what?"

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