Pattern Detection [Open]

[morphitudinous]

Who: Billy and whoever wants to find him late at night!
Where: Anywhere, just name a location in your tag.
Summary: Billy thinks he sees a pattern in the recent repoddings. Worried about his future and all the recent revelations, he prepares for the worst.
Warnings: None

Using patterns to predict future events wasn't foolproof, especially when the existence of a pattern was unclear or debatable, but Billy wasn't taking any chances. The most critical thing, as they'd all discussed, was to write down and copy information just in case. He'd been neglecting that duty, and with the recent events, the 'just in case' he was supposed to prepare for suddenly looked more likely. Billy hoped he was wrong about this, but now was not the time to take a risk. There were too many important things that needed saving.

It was late into the night, at an hour when most of his friends should be asleep, and Billy showed no sign of going to bed any time soon. He was coding his files on the latest Engineering projects onto multiple datapads and making hand copies of the same blueprints wherever possible. Once done, he hid the most important files in the lab, in his room at home, in the media library, on the observation deck, in his old car in the City, and in a few nondescript buildings here and there.

He roamed the halls, poking at his datapad to maintain the illusion that it was business as usual. The main thought echoing in his head was Not yet, please not yet.

Comments

[morphitudinous]

"I wish it was that simple," Billy sighed, pulling his knees up. "As far as I can tell, Dr. Sera and Sam weren't doing anything involving our current situation. They weren't investigating, weren't snooping, just...doing their everyday business."

He really, really hoped he was seeing something out of nothing. "I'm thinking that the AI wants to forcibly reshuffle the structure, and in that case it doesn't matter what I do."

[kaya_waterwave]

Of course she knew that saying that was stupid: in actuality, it would have been out of Billy's character NOT to do this. What was more, she could see that even if he said it didn't matter what he did, he certainly didn't think it. Someone had to document all of this, and there was always, always a part to play.

With Billy, it was hardly a surprise: he had always been a part of the ship.

"I think it matters, or you wouldn't be doing this," she said. "But you look exhausted. How long has this been going on?"

[morphitudinous]

"A few hours," Billy admitted quietly, though he was probably stretching the definition of 'few' fairly thin. "As soon as I realized what might be happening, I knew I had to get the most important information out there before doing anything else. We know she prefers to repod people while they're sleeping, so I need to get these files out first."

[kaya_waterwave]

"A few hours my butt," Kaya said, rolling her eyes. "All you have to do is look at all of this and know it was more than that! Look, I understand that you have a lot on your plate, but considering the Bond its sort of stupid to fib about that!"

Not that she even NEEDED the Bond to tell he was embellishing.

"I don't blame you for what you're doing, but I doubt Stacy has anything like that planned. Whoever is podded is usually arbitrary, and besides, there are people much more distrustful. In this case, Howard and that outspoken person at the meeting would have been podded by now."

[morphitudinous]

"It is, isn't it," Billy cringed guiltily.

He dropped his head, burying his face in his hands. "I just don't know. It's hitting me now after all this time that we don't have control over our fates this way. Even if it is arbitrary, I could still be next. And this is a bad time to lose information."

Not to mention losing out on helping with the war and missing his many new friends, Billy thought.

[kaya_waterwave]

She put a hand to his shoulder. Of course someone like Billy would be feeling this just as much as she did: he had been here just as long ,and he was bound to have frustration, having had more contact with the department heads.

"We have to change that then. To be honest, I wasn't condemning what you were doing: its just, after all this time, its becoming obvious we need to do so much more than what we've done in the past. Podding is just the beginning."

She sighed, but looked determined. "We need to do what Leon would have done if this had gone down."

[morphitudinous]

Billy huddled close to her, grateful for her presence. Any more worry and he'd probably be clinging to her.

"What would that course of action be?"

[kaya_waterwave]

kaya could be worried too: in fact, the smart, logical thing WOULD have been to be worried. Heck, she bet even Katara, wherever she was, would have been worried. But she had gone through several different mentors, each of whom taught her a little something about herself. She knew she, and in conjunction, Katara, would have been looking at her options.

"We have to create a smoke screen. I don't think it'll be long before the Daligig start to think we don't trust them anymore. Something has to divert their attention. To be honest, I wouldn't mind with things again. There are too many things going wrong at the same time."

She moped. "You hear anything about Danny?"

[morphitudinous]

Billy nodded slowly. "That's why I've been trying to escalate my work over time. I don't want to suddenly raise suspicion about me, but I'm not doing a great job."

He worried about that every night. Biting his lip, he decided to think it through later and ask questions now. "No, I didn't. What about him?"

[kaya_waterwave]

"Do it steadily, just not enough to rouse suspicion," Kaya said, narrowing her eyes. "Because you have to be careful. I don't want you getting hurt. Besides, there can be worse done to distract the Daligig."

Oh that's right. She was going there again.

"He's being held prisoner by Braniac," Kaya said glumly. "Somewhere. And unless someone says different, there's nothing I can do."

[morphitudinous]

Billy folded his arms over his chest, pressing in the feeling. Guilt. He'd almost forgotten about that project once the others had taken over.

"They won't let you go? That's been waiting far too long, we need someone," he said in a rush. "Someones. To find them."

[kaya_waterwave]

"I'll find a way," Kaya said darkly. "There's someone I know in trouble. I'm not going to just leave him to suffer. Hasn't this happened enough?"

She shook her head. "But I will need help. I know that much."

[morphitudinous]

"You know I'll give you anything you need. Though in this case, I probably can't give more than support from mission control. Punchy and the others are better equipped."

He bowed his head. "If there's a way for me to break through, I will."

[kaya_waterwave]

"I know," she said softly, sighing. "Look, will you promise me you'll k\eep to a low profile? I don't want something happening to you."

She sighed. "I'll do the same for you. I feel like we both have a lot of questions."

[morphitudinous]

Billy lifted his hand in a peace offering. "I will, as long as I can. But all bets are off if someone's in danger and no one else is helping," he insisted.

Still...he wanted to be here as long as possible. He scooted closer, lifting an arm to wrap around her. "But if I disappear soon...you know, right?"

[kaya_waterwave]

"I understand that," Kaya said softly. "I would do the same thing if I were in your shoes. I'm just asking you to be careful, all right? This has to be done with care."

In response to the last thing he said though, she hugged him fiercely, sniffing. "Just...don't talk about that. You're going to be ok."

[morphitudinous]

"I know. So I think I've hit my limit for tonight."

He gladly hugged her back, hoping that she was right. "I won't say it. But if you need me and something happens, you'll find my words," he said cryptically. "For now, though...why don't we talk? Make sure we've shared as much as we can."

[kaya_waterwave]

Oh that was hard, hearing that. Yes, he might not have said it, but it still lingered in the air a bit, and it felt like it wrapped around her throat, choking her. She hugged Billy tighter, trembling slightly.

Yes, Kaya was not someone for forcing away her more vulnerable moments. Not now, anyway.

"Sure, we can talk about whatever you want. Nokosi and I have...moved up in our relationship." She blushed a little, despite herself. "But I think I like it. It's one of the few things that makes me really happy these days. How are you and Ronnae?"

[morphitudinous]

Billy felt awfully guilty for bringing it up at all. He clung to her tightly, only relieving his grip when she seemed calmer.

"Congratulations," Billy whispered. Now he finally understood what Kaya must've felt when he'd confessed the same thing to her those months ago. "We were all right. We're still clumsy, we still trip all over each other! Then we missed our honeymoon due to some interference. I was going to make it up, but now..."

He looked even guiltier.

[kaya_waterwave]

"Don't be!" She said, smiling. "I think you're actually steering the conversation to a better place. Anyone can trip up and it would seem weird, but I think we're both at a place where we know what's expected. With you, well, you always seem to know exactly what's needed, and you go whole heartedly. I always admired that."

She playfully punched him in the arm. "And you know Ronnae understands!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy blushed. For the sake of his calm, he was going to ride on the assumption that she was discussing his approach to the relationship as a whole.

"I know. I'm still trying to convince her that I understand, though. Did you see the mess we made of the cake? She was horrified. But that's an everyday thing on my planet."

[kaya_waterwave]

Kaya could do that...if she were dating anyone other than Nokosi. He wasthe type of person who really knew how to keep her on her toes.

Kaya laughed. "Poor Ronnae! I thought it was actually pretty funny!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy nodded. "It was, afterward. At least we hadn't ruined any good clothing. I tried to be especially kind to her that night to make up for it."

He raked a hand through his hair, wondering. "Now we're getting back to work. There are the teleporters to build with her and Celena, we need those."

[kaya_waterwave]

"Wow, only just married and you were already in the doghouse?" Yes, Kaya's picked up on some of the slang of other people. As for how kind he was that night, well, that made for what she'd said about her and Nokosi, after all.

"Teleporters. That sounds like a great idea. I wonder if that will get us any closer to understanding Stacy."

[morphitudinous]

"I don't think it was that serious," Billy rushed to say. The doghouse? She'd do it literally too---no, he needed to behave better than that.

"It should. I keep hitting stumbling blocks every time I think we get close, as if the ship doesn't want us to know. But I'm not stopping."