driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Robin
Broadcast: Video!
Action: None!
When: Now!

---

[hey, it's Robin. he's lounging around in his captain's chair, feet up on the control panel. he's twirling something around in his fingers--it looks kind of like a glow stick? it's a glass cylinder filled with some sort of glowing, red liquid.]

Back in those casino stations, I won one of these.

[he stops twirling the cylinder. when he holds it up closer to the camera, you can see that it's capped with silver on one end. the insides seem to be bubbling a little, as if the liquid is carbonated.]

This is a Luxilizer... though most people below the surface just called them Dummy Sticks, as in, you were an idiot if you walked around the lower levels without them. They're filled with a liquid extracted from a luminescent fungus that grows in the caves of my hometown.

[he twirls it again. Robin himself doesn't seem particularly delighted about the thing, he's just casually explaining, perhaps out of boredom.]

They were originally designed as a backup light source, in case a person got lost in the tunnels. It also makes it easier for others to see them. It can get pretty dangerous down there, in the dark...

[after a pause, he grips the glowing tube and smiles at the camera.]

It's funny to me. No one where I'm from would give these a second thought, but I've learned that underground cities are not a familiar concept in most worlds.

---

[PRIVATE TO JASON | TOTALLY HACKABLE, HE AIN'T NO COMMS OFFICER]

Hey, remember me? [waving from his side of the video feed.] Mr. Mean Everything?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Congrats, Robin, you get an ultra rare video transmission from Ladon. He holds up a folded clip full of colorful paper money. ]

Not the only one who got somethin' from their world, huh? Yours's flashier and prob'ly more useful than mine. [ But from the way he runs his thumb over the edge of the bills, he doesn't seem to mind. ]

[ She's got her chin in her palm, watching with interest as he twirls it around ]

You don't seem all that excited about it.

Did you grow up in one of those underground cities, then?

[Shirley for one finds that kind of curious.]

[ Jason's looking a little scruffier than usual. Funny how some people he only sees when he's some flavor of unhappy. Still, when he sees who's calling he grins in a way that's at least 50% genuine. ]

I remember. My face helped with that. Also my ribs.

[ He's still grinning -- really, good job kicking his ass, sir. Well done! ]

What's up?

[aw, he likes 50% genuine. his own smile is really more of a smirk, but it falls into the same percentile.]

Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind returning the favor. This time I can have a bad day, get wasted, and get the shit knocked out of me.

Edited 2015-06-11 04:15 (UTC)

Not quite, but I did spend enough time in one to consider it more of a home than most places.

[thankfully, it's a question he can answer without really diving into his age and how he's been around much longer than said underground settlements.]

Skeleton City, it was called.

Ah, well. I was excited when I first got it...

[he twirls it around again, expertly.]

But thinking about home always puts me in an odd mood.

Well, isn't this a treat.

[he leans forward in his chair, pleased that he's being graced with said rare video. he's also genuinely interested in the bills.]

Is that money?

That's a grim name, for somewhere like a home.

[She's not really judging too much, but...yeah, it's a little weird.]

[that's okay, it makes him laugh.]

It was a grim city! It used to have another name, but no one remembers it anymore. It's supposedly... [using air-quotes:] "The city where lost souls go to rest". It's not actually full of skeletons.

Your home sounds a bit like Orzammar, though you don't look like a dwarf. I didn't realise it was such a strange concept.

Partially underground, fully-enclosed domed Cities are common on the Earth I am familiar with. The majority of the residents of these Cities experience severe trauma on being exposed to an open environment, primarily psychological but also with physiological symptoms. They require time and assistance to adapt to an outdoor environment, or even to large windows. Is this the case for you?

[He's partly interested, partly worried.]

[ sympathetic wince ] That bad, huh?

[ Well, it's possible that this guy's criteria for a "beat the shit out of me" day are less stringent than his own. Still, he knows firsthand just how unhealthy a coping mechanism that is. Still, healthy or not, it works. ]

...Sure. I figure I owe you. And who doesn't love a little violence for a good cause?

Got a location in mind?

[ A little wry smile ]

You're always in an odd mood, Robin.

[ Or at least, any time she happens to see him around ]

Think it'll come in handy here sometime?

That's still rather solemn, but it's a little better.

[She could see places like that on the Legacy, almost.]

I've never heard of an entire city underground before, but I suppose I've seen things that are just as strange to others.

[he should hope he doesn't look like a dwarf... give him a moment of pause to wonder if there's a tactful way to ask why this is dependent on particularly short people.]

That's also an underground city, then? What's it like?

[he listens with only mild surprise edging his expression. the expositional delivery was not expected. he's also never heard of an Earth like that, before. his answer remains smooth:]

Not me, in particular, but I have known people who were born and raised on the lower levels that have a psychological aversion to the world above. It's not very good for them. Our government tries to enforce regular trips to the surface for that very reason, but you can't catch everyone.

[he knows too. but he's not interested in "healthy" right now.]

You're a doll. I promise I won't make this a habit.

[he kicks his feet off of the panel, sitting like a human being again...]

I'm pretty close to a station, if you can get around those asteroids. I'll send you the coordinates.

Because fighting cute guys is such a hardship? [ He smirks. ] I'll be there, don't worry.

[ Is he confident in his shuttle piloting skills? Not incredibly, but he will figure shit out. Just to be on the safe side, though, he'll avoid taking Tay's shuttle. It would suck to have her finally get back and immediately kill him. ]

...Though you think I could get your name before we make with the fisticuffs?

So it's basically a fancy torch?

Sounds useful- I wouldn't be surprised at all if we lose electricity on the ships next.

I've never been. The dwarves aren't always keen to let outsiders in. From what I've seen elsewhere and what I know of dwarves, though, it's full of grand stonework with the ever-looming threat of darkspawn.

[She shrugs.]

But I admit I've never heard of a human underground city -- or elven, for that matter.

[--she's got him there, and at least it gets him to laugh.]

I guess you're right. Maybe it'd be better to say that this whole place puts me in an odd mood? Or perhaps I should just stop calling it odd, start calling it the same-old, same-old...

[the idea is entertaining to him, in a bizarre way. it helps lift his "odd" mood.]

Yeah, it might. It isn't the tunnels, but there's a lot of darkness out in space, too.

It does have a few nice points. The city up above it is beautifully built--and the tourist strip is a lot of fun. Lots of bright light, lots of music. I wouldn't exactly recommend it as a vacation destination--but it could he a lot worse.

[really, in a world where everything wants to kill you, Skeleton City is almost charming.]

What kind of things? If you don't mind my asking.

It would be wise to encourage such policies, in my opinion. As unpleasant as people may find the surface, in avoiding it they limit their own potential.

Out of curiosity, for what reason do humans of your world live underground?

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