WLWCB GATKP LBGQS VWGSD ABFOP HGQKU JYEUX DYN

[detectivewonder]

Who: Tim Drake AND YOU.
Broadcast: Fleetwide video & text stream.
Action: The Marsiva.
When: 1/29; evening.

[Tim has been pacing the deck, finding every corner, every computer console, working furiously to research whatever he can since the moment he woke up. Knowledge is a form of control; secrecy is another, and he has far too much of one and absolutely no guarantee of the second, and it makes him edgy. But once he's gotten a grip on the basic concept, delaying makes no sense.]

[The video broadcast reveals a young man - eighteen, give or take a few months - in a trim blue suit and red tie, dark hair neatly parted but still falling into his eyes, which are blue and unmistakably angry or tense no matter how well we modulates his tone and keeps it off the rest of his face, crisp and professional.]

Good... evening, I think, is the local time? Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, Pilot Officer reporting for duty - or I will be soon, if I'm getting the right idea here. I wanted to reach out and touch base before I was assigned - get an idea of what the ships are like, who I might be serving with, how long everyone's been here. Anything you can tell me would be appreciated.

Comments

[treasureling]

I didn't mean to offend.

I'm just - curious. How did you know how to react?

[ He is genuinely apologetic; he is reminded that other places are different, even though he tends to assume men have a sort of innate weakness as compared to women. ]

[detectivewonder]

You didn't. And I didn't. Call it an educated guess. One at least a few people are laughing at me for.

[treasureling]

I didn't notice.

[ The laughing. He's not sure how much he likes communicating by picture. Writing little letters is one thing. ]

If I didn't offend you, what made you hesitate?

[detectivewonder]

It just wasn't a question I expected. Or knew how to answer, really.

[treasureling]

Men do this, where you're from?

[detectivewonder]

You're going to have to give me a more specific definition of "this."

[treasureling]

There aren't really pilots where I come from, so I don't know. But men raise children.

[detectivewonder]

Well, I'm a little young for that, don't you think?

But you mean... as a primary occupation? Men are home-makers, women are career-oriented?

[treasureling]

[ A nod. ] Something like that.

...I had my first child at your age. [ He's not criticizing, just trying to understand. ]

[detectivewonder]

Where I'm from, we're a little more egalitarian, but on the average, it's more likely to be the reverse.

... And, sorry. I know people my age with kids. It just isn't common, exactly.

[treasureling]

Egalitarian?

[ He doesn't know the word. ]

[detectivewonder]

Equal. People are free to work towards their chosen life goals regardless of gender. But some places are more equal than others, and most places have more experience with patriarchy.

[treasureling]

I've heard of places like that. Where men are in charge.

[ It just all seemed so distant. ]

I don't know what it would like to be equal.

[detectivewonder]

Well, I like it.

[treasureling]

Does that make you a warrior, then?

[detectivewonder]

A martial artist. I wouldn't call myself a warrior.

[treasureling]

Why not?

[detectivewonder]

Let's say it's more a hobby than a vocation.

[treasureling]

A warrior can have a different job.

[detectivewonder]

I'm a rich kid. An entrepreneur. I dabble in a lot of things.

[treasureling]

And now you're a pilot.

[detectivewonder]

Another day, another hobby, I guess.

[treasureling]

[ He doesn't really understand, but he nods anyway. ]

I'll be - over there. If you want company. [ He wants company, but he doesn't feel like he can ask for it from this foreign youth. ]

[detectivewonder]

I've got some more research to do. Rain check?