trans_9 | Survivalist End [Open]

|| Medical personnel, please report to the Observation Deck. ||

The shuttle from 'Eden' returns to Stacy, carrying the rescue crew and the original crew members that went down to answer the first distress signal. The returning people are bloodied, battered, some grievously injured. Maxine, Diana and Clef are dehydrated and haven't eaten in days. Karis is missing her entire lower half.

But at least she's better off than the corpse and the wand hastily wrapped in sheets and clothing and lying in the back of the return shuttle. Howard Bassem and Cedric Diggory, one laid cold and still by death and the other not even in enough pieces to be scraped up and taken back, never made it home alive. The official causes of death will be respiratory failure and spontaneous combustion, respectively, as if to to provide a clinical, accurate excuse in lieu of questioning a ship that sends children on dangerous missions.

Stacy quickly determines that she is the most qualified to deal with Karis' case and whisks her away to a secluded section of the Medical Bay. The rest of the survivors and the tragedy are left for the crew to deal with.

[OOC: Bendytimed to right before the tournament plot.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She had to laugh, relieving some of her stress that way.

"Do you think I mind? Really?" she said, squeezing his hand for emphasis.

He had to smile at that. It wasn't much of a smile, and it lived almost entirely in his eyes, but it was there - a little glimmer of affection and even humor.

"Shall we, then?" he said in almost a whisper, using most of his random-access strength on the effort of standing up.

She might have to carry him in the end, she thought. She offered him an arm in hopes he'd lean on it and headed for the door slowly.

Did he smell? A little. Was he grimy? Certainly. But he was alive. Her heart hurt a little in memory of Cedric, whom she could put a friendly face to, and the other boy, the one she didn't know. But someone had cared for him. Someone would be missing him too.

Clef was alive. She was incredibly grateful for that, and kept glancing sideways at him, looking both worried and happy in turns.

"I'd fill you in on what's been going on here, but it hasn't been much. I think I've spent most of the time in the library," she said, just to fill silence. They were both quite comfortable with quiet most of the time, but she thought he might fall asleep on his feet if she didn't make some sort of conversational attempt. "Did you know that on the Earth they have a bunch of tiny countries instead of one big one? And the boundaries change all the time! I can't imagine how they keep track of it."

He did in fact lean on her arm, and did so un-self-consciously. She probably would have to carry him, he realized, but he wanted to at least get off of the observation deck - and therefore away from the observation of others - before allowing that to happen.

"Hm. They must have a very complicated political structure," he replied thoughtfully. Presea had picked a good subject - even as fatigued as he was, social studies still piqued his interest. "I think much of it is related to their higher population. I read that it was... eight billion, something along those lines."

She had made a good choice: Clef always liked talking about politics, no matter whether he was involved in these particular ones. And somehow he always seemed to know a little more about them than she did.

"Eight billion," she repeated, shaking her head. "I can't even imagine that. They must sleep on top of one another. No wonder they invented skyscrapers."

The photos were interesting, even if the straight line aesthetic wasn't pleasing to her own eye. And the name was particularly appropriate.

She adjusted her strides with a practiced ease in order to keep at his pace. It was almost like they were taking a stroll, rather than making their way towards the rest of recovery.

"And mass communication, and things like that," he replied, nodding. "Although Autozam has most of those things without nearly those population levels."

But he had heard that their population had been steadily declining. Biodomes kept the people mostly safe from the effects of pollution - those that could afford to live in them, anyway - but no technology was perfect. There were slow leaks and mysterious illnesses believed to be somehow related to pollution levels, and of course the domes were getting more and more crowded. Perhaps Autozam had once been like Earth.

Not that it mattered anymore, did it?

"... Had, rather. I suppose it's gone now."

Presea blinked. She'd forgotten, just a moment, that she should be using the past tense. The thought left her quiet for a long moment.

"For now," she said, trying to be firm with herself more than anything, even though she still couldn't quite believe it. "It's real enough in books and memories."

She didn't want to talk about a world that hadn't been saved. It could only remind Clef of his failed mission, or worse.

Happier things. "In any case, it's very interesting to read about. I thought you might have some suggestions, too."

"For things to read?" he looked up, smiling a little, and then nodded. It was probably for the best at the moment that he couldn't focus on much of anything, good or bad. "A few. You know how I am, though - I generally start with the history books."

"I like history too," she said, although she was mostly fond of the way Clef told it, as if you were really there. If he were feeling better, she'd ask him to tell her the stories that he had liked, but his voice was raspy and he'd be irritated if he lost it for a while.

"Nearly there," she said cheerfully, instead. "Are you doing okay?"

He was leaning on her pretty heavily and hesitated a bit before squeezing her hand and nodding. They were almost there! Although it was overwhelming, the amount of things he needed to do before actually collapsing into bed.

"There are a lot of ancient civilizations, though," he said, more or less trying to keep the conversation going somehow. He wasn't sure where it was supposed to be going, mind.

They seemed to be moving slower and slower. She wasn't sure he'd make it the entire way. Well, that was what she was here for. She let him lean as much as he needed to.

"I bet you have a favorite one, though," she said. Probably whichever one was most like their civilization, really, but studying the differences between would be fascinating.

"I don't know yet. I like the Roman Empire, but that's primarily because it was an empire and there is a lot of information on it--"

Clef stopped suddenly and sighed. By this point they were barely moving and he was leaning on her pretty heavily.

"Can you--" he looked up, a hint of embarrassment in his expression. "There isn't really anywhere to stop and rest..."

She'd been very quietly pondering how best to do this, to preserve his dignity and not put too much strain on herself. She hadn't carried around babies or children regularly since she was a child herself, but at least she had the idea of it.

"Arms around my neck, all right?" she asked, and without any further warning hoisted him up on her hip, like an over-sized toddler. He weighed less than she'd braced for. Which, really, sometimes she had to push the cannons around at home, and they weighed more than she did.

Onward, then. "An empire like Fahren, or like Autozam?" she continued, arms firm around him.

He did as instructed and squeaked a little as she hoisted him up. It wasn't incredibly dignified, but his ability to care about dignity was by now diminished more than enough to make up for it. On the plus side, he was close to her face. Which was nice.

"Well, it was an actual empire, so I suppose it wasn't much like either of them," he explained. "I think it was culturally more similar to Autozam, though."

She smiled at him from their close proximity. It was really nice to be able to touch him again, even in the smallest of ways.

She snickered a little at his answer. "I think Autozam would be an empire if the surrounding countries weren't so well-guarded," she said, with a hint of pride. Here she went, forgetting to use the past tense again. Oh well. They were nearly to their room, anyway. It'd be nice to have a shower. On both sides, she was sure.

Survivalist End [Open]

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