1 - Open as the Wasteland

[iamawaited]

Who: Nux and you!
Broadcast: Hello world!
Action: All around the Marsiva!
When: July 26

Video

[This video is either going to be very interesting or very boring to viewers, depending on who's watching. It opens on a blue eye in a very pale face, with some kind of dark makeup smudged around it. The eye tilts crazily to one side, then the other. The camera pulls back to on a second identical eye, a scarred nose and cheek -- then further still to reveal a mouth crossed from end to end with vertical scars, like skeletal teeth.

The boy -- it's definitely a boy, or really a young man -- squints at the camera, and then the image tips to the side again and jerks wildly back and forth as he bangs the communicator against the nearest surface and brings it back up to his eye with a curious sound. After a moment, he seems to give up looking for whatever it is he wants from it and puts it down, leaving the camera staring at the ceiling.]

Action

[He had done the same when he'd awoken. He'd opened his eyes on the cleanest, shiniest surface he's ever seen, and thought, chrome. Then it had hit him all at once: the rig, Capable, Rictus...

...Valhalla...?

Not like any Valhalla he's ever imagined, he'd thought when he'd sat up and taken a look around -- that was when he'd spotted the little machine with its blinking red light.

Now, he abandons it and starts exploring his surroundings closely. There's information trickling into his brain, but it's a lot to take in all at once. The room alone is a lot to take in all at once: real beds, glaring bright lights, equipment he's never seen before, the huge night sky out the window.

Eventually, he finds his way into the showers, blinking when he spots the tap. Guzzoline? Mother's Milk? He turns it and jerks back in surprise when liquid starts spraying out onto him, turning the tap off again quickly. His eyes widen when he licks his scarred lips: water. He wrenches the tap back on and turns his face up to the shower head, taking a few greedy gulps of aqua cola.

Eventually, he'll tear himself away again and resume his exploration, not seeming to care about the fact that he's soaking wet, or that the already-faded white-and-black war paint is running from his bare, scarred torso.]

Comments

voice > video;

[redactions]

​​​​[ He spends about a second in a mixture of amusement and worry, and then tries video. ]

Hey, hey, I'm here.

​​​​[ Straightening the screen so it displays his head and shoulders. He's wearing the black jumpsuit of the smaller ships, with the left sleeve removed. The shoulder is polished metal. ]

Re: voice > video;

[iamawaited]

I think it's broken.

[Maybe that's what happens when he bangs it against the floor a dozen times???]

video;

[redactions]

No, it takes getting used to. You see the buttons on this side? You can turn off the picture and use just your voice.

video -> voice

[iamawaited]

[He gives Bucky a curious look, then tries it -- the image abruptly cuts out.]

Like this?

[redactions]

​​​​[ Nodding, ]

Exactly like that. Now if you press the last button, it lets you write.

[iamawaited]

[Again, he obeys -- it's very easy for him to fall into the pattern of obeying instructions, even implicit ones -- and taps the button, blinking owlishly when the keyboard pops up on the screen. Oh. When he'd gotten it up before, it had been sort of... by accident.

He hesitates, then turns the keyboard back off; he knows how to read and write a little, and he'd figured out how to use the keys, but it had been painstakingly slow. He pulls the video back up, instead.]

[redactions]

​​​​[ He hasn't yet noticed that's the case — to him this is still a friendly conversation, with give and take. ]

What's your name, kid?

[iamawaited]

I'm Nux.

[redactions]

I'm Jim. ​​​​[ he frowns, looking over Nux more intently. Poor kid looks dehydrated, and a little gaunt. ] Listen, there's a room down the hall, where you can eat and drink as much as you want.

[iamawaited]

[He glances around until he spots the way to the hall. He makes for it curiously.]

Eat and drink what?

[redactions]

Fresh food, and clean water.

[iamawaited]

--Water?

[redactions]

​​​​[ The way Nux says it seizes around Bucky's heart, but his tone is still carefully the same. ]

Yes. Water. As much as you want.

[iamawaited]

But there was already--

[He turns his head, looking back towards the shower room.]

How much water do you have?

[redactions]

​​​​[ A soft, amused noise. ]

That — that's not for drinking. Usually. It's for washing.​​​​

[iamawaited]

Washing what?

[Wait.]

Is that all it's there for?

[redactions]

Water's used for a lot of things, kid, it's not always clean to drink if it comes out of the showerhead.

[iamawaited]

[He frowns thoughtfully, wetting his lips.]

Didn't taste sour.

[redactions]

Is it supposed to?

[iamawaited]

Didn't taste-- not clean.

[redactions]

​​​​[ Drought conditions, or poison? Explains a lot about this boy's appearance. ]

It might be safe to drink, but not always.

[iamawaited]

[It's not actually an or in this case, friend. Nux scoffs a bit and shakes his head.]

I know how to tell.

[redactions]

All right then. Mind if I ask where you're from?

[iamawaited]

Citadel?

[He doesn't have much hope at this point that anyone but Furiosa will know what he's talking about.]

[redactions]

​​​​[ He's probably not going to get anywhere if he asks for a country, so, ]

What's it like there?