driftfleet | [Video]

[Chloe is curled up somewhere in front of a viewport, looking out at space. There's a blanket in her lap, covered with what looks like polaroid photos. There's a half-empty bottle of something brown and viscous tucked into the space between her leg and the window. The first few seconds of the video are just her looking like she wants to say something, then sighing and instead she tugs a cigarette from her pocket, lights it, and takes a drag before looking at the camera.]

I've been here for a fuckin' year.

[It's said in a 'can you seriously believe this shit?' tone, and after she says it she takes another drag of her cigarette. Clearly trying to calm her nerves.]

It kinda snuck up on me, with the attack and everything. Didn't realize it till suddenly...bang. A year. A year.

It doesn't feel that long. [She added.] No idea if that's a good thing or not, you know? Guess it's good. Beats the alternative.

But it's all so like...different.

[Another drag.]

When I got here, Max was here. And Alex and...shit. A lot of people that aren't now. Try not to spend time thinkin' about it but I guess anniversaries are hard to avoid. I-

[She trails off, turning to look out the window for probably longer than she realizes. Her reflection is...subdued, really?]

Just...you ever think how something that's good can actually be really fuckin' awful? I mean I Shit!

[She shifts as she turns back, which disrupts the blanket in her lap and sends a half the pictures scattering out of view, with her making desperate attempts at grabbing them that fail. Once they finish falling she just slumps back against the glass.] Fucking hell.

Uh. I don't- [She groans.] Don't even know why I did this never mind.

[She grabs the communicator and turns it off before she can say anything else.]

[Welcome to yet another episode of angry slightly drunk and actually really sad Chloe Price. Feel free to try and cheer her up, it might work!]

[And then hours later, voice only.]

Anybody have any glue?

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[Ah yes, plastic. That weird futuristic shit.]

I'm sure it'll probably be fine. I'll meet you at the docks?

Yeah, sure. Thanks man.

[A bit later, Chloe is leaning against the wall near the docks, arms crossed, toying with her communicator.]

[Sorey waits for the landing bay to pressurize, passes through the airlock to see Chloe there and he jogs up, holding out the glue.] Here you go! I'm Sorey, by the way. Forgot to introduce myself.

Hey! [Chloe gave him a little joking salute as she pushed off the wall, shoving her communicator into the pocket of her lab coat.]

Cool to meet you. [She took the glue.] Not gonna need all of it, though. Come on, can give it back quick.

[She moved to head further into the ship.]

Sure, of course. [Their first few steps are silent and awkward, but Sorey is nosy and can't help but nudge his way into somebody's business. Especially not after a post like that.] So, um...tell me if you don't want to talk about it, but what you were saying earlier. About thinking something that's good is actually terrible?

[Chloe's eyes narrowed at that question, hesitating for a moment as she walked before she shrugged.]

When I got here, my girlfriend was here. But she went home a few months later. Which fuckin' sucks.

[She stopped at a small door and unlocked it, but stopped before going inside, her hand resting on the frame.]

But it's good that she's at home. She's got shit to do. But it sucks.

Yeah, [Sorey admits, shifting his weight behind her.] It's hard to feel happy for that when the end result is being lonely.

Yeah. Especially when I'm never gonna see her again.

[Chloe pushed her way into the room, propping the door open as she went so he could follow. Inside was something of a garden? Albeit dedicated to just one kind of plant, spread across a number of tables. Half the room was split by a large, heavy curtain that blocked off the light to the plants on that side.]

[Chloe headed for a small table where one of the plants was resting in a bucket, with it's usual canister in several pieces next to it.]

This should just take a couple minutes.

[Okay yeah but you can't just amble into a room and get start fiddling with stuff when you say something like that.]

What d'you mean you won't ever see her again? Wouldn't you see her when you go back home?

[Chloe tugged a stool out from under the table and plopped down on it, setting the clue next to the pieces of broken pot. She didn't look up when she talked.]

Yeah, I don't get to do that.

-oh. [There aren't many reasons why that would be the case.] I'm- I'm sorry for prying.

Eh. [Chloe shrugged.] Doesn't really matter, does it? Pry all you want.

[Well, if she's okay with it...

Sorey leans against the doorjamb, watching her line the broken sections with the glue.] Can I ask what happened?

To me? [She stopped what she was doing, staring at the bit of plastic for a few seconds before she started again.]

That's...really fuckin' complicated. There was time travel involved. Sort of. Max could explain it.

But she's gone so. Uh.

[Okay how to explain this...]

You can't be with her back home because of time travel? [The first time Sorey's come across anything like time travel is here, where Zaveid remembers killing a friend he doesn't.] Does she...not remember you?

No, time travel is why I'm dead.

[Chloe flinched as she said this, shifting two pieces of plastic apart again, and sucked in a deep breath before she tried to line them up once more.]

And I don't know. I guess everybody remembers me except that I'm, you know, dead.

[Okay, she said she was fine with talking but that flinch is obvious. Of course. Who would be completely okay with discussing their own death with a stranger?

Sorey falls into silence while she finishes lining up the pieces, until she's got them secured and pressing them together to make sure the glue bonds.]

...I have a friend here who's died back home, too. I don't know your girlfriend or what your circumstances are, but I've- I'm going to bring him back home.

So if I find out anything useful, I can let you know. If you want.

Edited 2017-02-17 03:16 (UTC)

Good luck. I've never heard of anything like that happening.

[Chloe Price: Pessimist. She let go of the plastic after a bit and it seemed to stay connected.]

But hey, thanks. Any information is helpful, probably.

[Well, it's not like she's wrong. There's literally no precedent for it, after all.] There must be some way. You're alive here, and people who've died here come back to life too. There must be a way.

Anything's possible. [Chloe did believe that, even when she was feeling jaded.] I mean, hell, time travel's possible so why not.

[More gluing as she talked.]

[Even with as much determination as he has, this is kind of a depressing topic so after a moment of uncomfortable silence Sorey clears his throat.]

Can I ask how you met your girlfriend?

Mm. [Chloe didn't answer right away, though whether that was because she didn't want to or because she was concentrating, it was hard to tell.]

[Finally she shrugged.]

Sure, whatever. We grew up together, but then she moved away. My life went to shit while she was gone, then she came back and...

[She smiled, mostly to herself.]

There was like this...spark, I guess. I mean, I'm always horny as hell I can't really judge if it was like 'fuck, max came back and she's perfect' or 'fuck, max came back and she's hot' but either way...

Sparks.

[Shut up that's so romantic. He's eating it up, he loves love. Not great that her life went to shit, but then a girl comes back and there's sparks?] Who's to say it's not a mix of both?

Probably is. Isn't everything? [She carefully sets the pot down, and it...seems to stay together.]

Hey, check it. Fixed my pot.

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