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[indeliblepast]

Sumeragi glared at the console, and instructed the computer to bring up the simulation once more. It was a fairly simple one - just dodging an oncoming asteroid field - but she'd run it three times now, and each had ended with her ship as an asteroid bug-splatter not too far in. She could drive a car just fine, but the finer controls of the ship eluded her. She had imported the Ptolemy's basic design and control scheme into the program, so at least it was a ship she was vaguely familiar with.

Nonetheless, ten minutes into this fourth run, a fairly loud stream of curses - in more than one language - could be heard outside the door to the sensorium she was using.

Comments

[indeliblepast]

"Nah," she replied. "Got a ship but no pilot. I've got the basic qualifications, but basic isn't good enough for combat."

[morganknight]

"That's true." Morgan looked back up at the controls and the display screens, smiling a little self-deprecatingly. "I'm kind of envious, actually. Flying a spaceship is something honestly pretty amazing to me, coming from when I do. The closest thing we had to any sort of space travel was a space elevator, and that was my doing, damn it. If Knight Aerospace hadn't ponied up the dough to work on that... humanity as a whole seemed so absolutely certain to never leave the planet again. No one cared any more what was out there... they only cared about themselves."

He sighed, then chuckled. "Sorry, personal irritation kind of came through there."

[indeliblepast]

She gave him a small smile. "It always has to start somewhere. By my century... there are three orbital elevators, and a solar ring that supplies energy for most of the first and second world nations."

[morganknight]

"And spaceships, clearly," he said, patting the seat he was leaning on. "I hope it becomes an era of possibility and not confinement, though."

Which was an odd thing to say, but something he meant quite sincerely, to judge from his voice.

[indeliblepast]

She nodded, understanding what he meant. "I hope so too. It's my goal to try and keep humanity on the path of possibility, at least."

[morganknight]

"...I want to make a terrible comment to that, but I can't think of one that's not too terrible," he said, smiling.

[indeliblepast]

She laughed. "I was in the military for years, I think I'm immune to terrible jokes."

[morganknight]

"Terrible in the sense of how bad the flirtation is, too," he clarified. "Military?"

His respect went up a notch, mostly due to the spillover respect he had for another ex-military woman he knew.

[indeliblepast]

"Oh, there was plenty of that too," she replied with a grin. "And ex-military, now."

[morganknight]

"Well, yeah. Kinda hard to still be military given the circumstances if nothing else." Not that he still didn't consider himself an Akashic Brother, though... "Space corps of some sort, I would take it?"

[indeliblepast]

Sumeragi shook her head. "Nah, I quit before that. This ship isn't military. Our goal was... well, to end war, as idealistic as it sounds."

[morganknight]

He stretched up on his toes to lean over the chair back, peering down at her curiously, as if he was re-examining her in light of this new information. After a moment of that, an odd but sincere smile flitted across his face.

"I didn't take you for an idealist, but I think I like how that image fits you. What led to that happening?"

[indeliblepast]

Sumeragi gave him a lopsided smile. "I was in the military. That's what happened."

[morganknight]

"I can understand that," he said. "But what I meant was more... did you have an opportunity to act on, or was it just you knew it had to be done, and you'd figure out how to make it happen as you went?"

[indeliblepast]

"I was... given an opportunity, I suppose. After I left the military." To have such an idea dropped on her lap - it had been frightening, but at the same time, it had been a risk she'd had to take.

[morganknight]

"Is this the part where I get to hear your history, or where we laugh and awkwardly change the subject?" Morgan asked. "I'm cool either way, so choose your own adventure. To tell Morgan your tragic history, turn to page 95..."

[indeliblepast]

She managed to keep up her smile, but her stomach did a little flip-flop at the question. She liked Morgan, but... those were painful memories, still.

"It was a long time ago... and I don't think I've had enough drinks to delve back that far right now." She tried to keep her tone light, play it off like it wasn't a big deal.

[morganknight]

"At least I know it's not in a galaxy far, far away," he teased back. If she didn't want to talk about it, who was he to complain?

[indeliblepast]

She smiled a little easier. "I don't know, it could be. Hell if I know where the ship is, at this point."

[morganknight]

"Not down in the Hangar?" he asked, reflexively glancing downwards and to one side despite the fact that even if the Hangar was in that direction, which it almost certainly wasn't, no one could see the thing from here.

[indeliblepast]

Sumeragi laughed. "Unless something has happened in the last two hours, I know where my ship is. Just not where the big one is. Relative to Earth. Or where Earth was."

[morganknight]

"Oh, this ship. Duh, Morgan." He bonked himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand. "Sorry, sometimes the 'idiot' in 'rich idiot playboy' isn't just an act to cover my secret identity."

[indeliblepast]

Sumeragi grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Secret identity? Now that sounds exciting." More exciting than her... well, not terribly secret identity, anyway.

[morganknight]

"Yes," he said, sounding terribly solemn.

"I'm Batman."

[indeliblepast]

There was a second or two of slightly surprised silence - and then Sumeragi broke down in a fit of barely-contained snickering.