Meet-n-Greet

[cityship]

After being released from stasis, having the slime removed from their bodies and clothed in the creepy, pulsing leaf-suit that everyone wore, and being taken to the Weapons & Possessions lockers to collect their belongings, the new arrivals would find themselves standing in the Observation Deck. Round windows lined the fleshy walls, revealing the bright display of lights that was inter-dimensional travel. They would also discover that there were people--members of the command staff and crew that had woken earlier--waiting for them.

Comments

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

John doesn't know what the hell a Gray is, specifically, but he's heard the term before. Nothing good, anyway.

"Name?" Come on, Marcus, answering one question and not the other isn't the way to go.

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

It certainly gets her eyes to narrow, doesn't it? "...do you have a name?"

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

"Marcus Wright. Do you have names?" Marcus returns, giving the two teenagers a suspicious glare. Three people can play the I-don't-trust-you game, even if two of them are on the same side.

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"John Connor." And since he's pretty sure Marcus here is from Allison's present and he doesn't want to go through the BS of making up another name on the spot, have at it.

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

"Allison Young." And she sure as hell doesn't know anyone named Marcus Wright. Or John Connor, honestly.

But she's known John longer.

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

Well, Marcus doesn't know an Allison Young, either. He knows a John Connor, though, and he might be panicking a bit. "... what." Marcus says incredulously. "You can't be John Connor."

... this is probably even-more-awkward-question time, isn't it?

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"...What the fuck?" It really, really is. "You know something, spilling would be good. Like, now."

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

Oh good. Her turn to be seriously confused. "...why can't he be John Connor?"

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

"I've met John Connor, and you're not him. Too young, for one thing." Marcus says slowly. Too quiet for another, and not desperately in need of a cough drop, but everything's telling him that this isn't John Connor.

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"Welcome to the joys of time travel, Marcus Wright." John is now glaring at you. "Normally I'd offer to show you some kind of ID but it's never had my real name and I don't even have a fucking birth certificate but I am really tired of dealing with the repercussions of things I haven't done YET."

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

"I'm never ever heard of John Connor." Muttering to herself. Oh, Allison.

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

"... time travel?" ... well, that sounded more like John Connor (ie.- completely out of his mind) to Marcus. And Marcus is also pretty sure that no one wants to deal with the repercussions of what future-John-Connor did, including him.

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"You're not missing much," John mutters in reply to Allison.

Marcus gets a normal-volumed reply, however. "Look. It's real, sorry to break it to you. Skynet and the Resistance uses it and I would love to hear what it is that I've done to freak you out so badly."

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

"So would I. Really." Machines don't freak, so that's a plus. Right?

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

"Long story." Marcus says, hands in his pockets. It's a long story he really, really doesn't want to get into right now. Or possibly ever, what with the John Connor and Resistance member right here.

Yeah, so maybe evading is suspicious. Answering the question'll probably get him shot, and he'll take his chances with 'suspicious' for now.

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"Long stories are fascinating, Marcus, but I really need to know why a complete stranger to me is both angry and frightened to hear my name."

Eyes narrowed and arms folded. "So give me the Cliff's Note version."

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

More suspicious looks. And vaguely creeped out ones here.

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

"Fine, Cliffs Notes version. I stepped on a landmine outside one of your bases. I went unconscious, woke up over a pit, found out I had a metal ribcage thanks to you or future-you or whatever, which was fucking news to me, and then I woke up on the meatship."

Happy now, John?

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"...Well shit." Eloquence is not the order of the day. "You're metal. That's gotta be fun."

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

Oh. Good. Metal. "Metal. You're metal. You're metal." And for her next trick, Allison Young will repeat everything a thousand times, and have a panic attack. Hooray!

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, loads of fun. I died. I woke up nine years in the future. I almost got killed by genocidal robots. The kids I was traveling with got taken by Skynet. I got blown up by a landmine and found out I was one of the genocidal robots. I woke up here on the ship from hell. Met you, except not the you I met earlier." No, Marcus isn't happy about any of that.

"Still got my brain, I think." he points out helpfully, throwing panic-attacking Allison a slightly concerned look. "And my heart." Also, he doesn't particularly want to kill any of you.

[antitachyonic.livejournal.com]

"Good. Change the rules." That's all the answer you're getting for the moment, Marcus, because a girl having a panic attack is a little more important.

John has odd ways of determining the importance of things today.

"Allison." Touching her shoulder. "Breathe. It's fine. Metal doesn't always mean Skynet, really."

Which might not be the best thing to say but what the hell does John really know about how to deal with this.

[godelsolution.livejournal.com]

She really doesn't know what that means, John. And she really needs to sit, but she doesn't know where. "He knows what Skynet is and he's metal.

Maybe he should take her gun away. Before she realises she has one.

[tasted-death.livejournal.com]

Neither of them are making sense, although that's at least to be expected in Allison's case, and Marcus is going to try to edge away quietly before the panic attack turns into something significantly more violent. Like shooting him.