trans_9 | Losing Them In Pieces [Open]

Who: Jamie and open!
Where: The Brig, unless someone drags him out from it.
Summary: A reaction to Billy's repodding and Zetta's subsequent announcement.
Warnings: General unhappiness warnings. Possibly a bit of sulking and a reluctance to do things.

Zetta's announcement had infuriated Jamie, and for a few moments he had forgotten it was supposed to be an act. All he wanted to do was get out of his cell, hunt down that overgrown piece of parchment and find out how hard it would be to punch a book in what served for its face. But the anger soon faded as the reality set in. Another teammate, gone. Only this time it was someone he had grown to care for like the members of his clan - like a brother. It wasn't a mistake or a joke. Maybe it wasn't as permanent as Punchy's death, but in some ways it hurt even worse.

And...maybe Zetta had been right, act or no act. What was to stop the Daligig from repodding the rest of the rebels or even the crew entirely? Yes, they'd lose the investment they had in the crew, and have to start all over again, but they'd have the time to adjust the systems, undo the changes that had already been done and start over with a group that had no idea what was going on. Or what if they decided a more effective tack would be to pod the rest of those who the rebels cared for? What if they repodded the Doctor? Or Victoria? He couldn't bear the thought of losing her, too, not now. Not again.

A wave of listlessness rolled over him, and he slid down the wall to sit heavily on the floor. His eyes found a random spot, and he stared at it despondently, too caught up in the downward spiral of his thoughts to actually see it. Why should they even bother trying to fight? Was it even worth it anymore?

"Och, what's the use?"

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"...Like, on a philosophical level, or are you just really bored with the stuff on your omnicom?" Paco asked from the other side of the hall and slightly to the left. "Because I'll swap with you if you're bored. I accidentally downloaded a bunch of soap operas and I'm actually thinking about watching them."

"A philasopho-what?" Jamie replied, brow furrowing in confusion. And on the off chance Paco couldn't see his face, there was plenty of bafflement in his tone as well, enough to make up for any lack of visible expression. People had tried to explain the concept of philosophy to Jamie before, but he didn't really understand it. So he did what he often did when faced with something like that - faked it.

"Oh, aye. That." He thought about getting to his feet to go over, closer to the bars, then decided against it. "I don't think you'd want to swap, though. All I've got on there is that wee game with the blocks."

He's not so good with computers, and while he's gotten better with some aspects of the Omnicom, he doesn't generally use it enough to bother with things apart from sending messages.

"Doesn't matter anyway," he added, pessimism creeping back into his tone. "There's no point to it."

"Nahh, already got that one, if it's the block game I'm thinking of," Paco said, leaning against the bars of his cell. "Though I don't think most people get that bummed out over computer games that aren't...you know, way more interesting than that. What gives? 'Cause I'm sure I can find a point for you if you've lost one."

"No, you're right, it's not that," he admitted after a moment. "I'd not say as I'm very good with it, but that's beside the point."

Certainly not something he really worries about at all - well, except when he's frustrated when he can't get it to go right, but that's an entirely different type of emotion there. And not one he's feeling at the moment.

"Ye saw that post-thing, did ye not? That one from Zetta. That's what gives."

Edited 2012-05-29 07:23 (UTC)

"Ahh, right, that," Paco said, making a face. He wasn't sure if they were supposed to keep the charade up in here too, but decided he might as well. "You know what?" he continued, loudly so that other people, in and out of the cells could hear him, "You know what? Screw 'im. Right in his -- does he even have ears? I haven't interacted with the guy much. The point is, he's being a tool and screw him. I don't take bullshit from books when they don't talk, and I've talked with weirder things that have made more sense. So he can take his opinion and shove it up his own binding."

He paused and shot Jamie a sympathetic look. "Sorry about your buddy getting stuffed away, though. It sucks when that happens."

For all that Jamie had remembered by now that it was a charade - or a fiddle, as Ben would say - there was a little part of him that was still annoyed by Zetta's post. It had been subsumed somewhat by the apathy, but Paco's words were enough to spark the annoyance back to life. He straightened, something determined coming into his face.

"Aye, you're right. If I get out of here, I'll show him a thing or two!"

The expression softened, then, and one side of his mouth curled upwards. It wasn't quite a smile, but it was the best he could manage. "Aye, it does. Hey, ye have a friend that that happened to as well, don't ye?" The one that had the name that looks like Jamie's, but pronounces it differently. "Jaime, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Paco said brightly. "I'll help -- uh, I guess you don't really need help holding a book down, but I'll guard the door or something."

He blew the air out of his mouth in a sigh and made a face at Jamie's question. "Yeah, Jaime." He held up his mechanical arm, displaying two fingers. "Twice. Two different Jaimes -- I mean, they were pretty much exactly the same dude and all, but there's at least two of 'em in the Pod Caverns that came out and got messed up by this whole thing." And Paco didn't even want to talk about the whole situation with Brenda. "Totally blows."

Well, there were Zetta's minions to deal with, too, but they were likely not going to be an issue. The chances of Jamie staying angry long enough to still want to haul off and sock Zetta one were fairly slim, especially given they still had the real rebellion to get through.

"Aye," he said, although not without sympathy. "I know what ye mean. I've met the Doctor...och, I don't know how many times now. Different ones, but some of him more than once. And they never remember, either."

A little belatedly, he realized that his words might not make a whole lot of sense, and he glanced over at Paco with a faint grimace. "Er, part of that is a wee bit confusing to explain. But it does seem like there's a lot of times where the same person keeps coming out. Are ye sure it wasn't the same Jaime though, just without his memories from the first time?"

"...The Doctor's the guy that does that weird thing where he turns into a different dude when he dies, right?" Paco asked, more as a way of indicating that Jamie didn't need to explain than any need for clarification. He'd actually witnessed a regeneration incident, though he'd had a slug controlling him at the time. Paco shuddered at the memory and pushed it away.

"Pretty sure they were different Jaimes," he said. "The notes left by the first one didn't trigger any deja vu in the second one. Never got around to actually asking Stacy or anything, though. It didn't really seem important."

A Jaime was a Jaime was a Jaime, as far as Paco was concerned.

Losing Them In Pieces [Open]

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