Tha sin mar bhàs.

[hollystrike]

Who: Katie and you!
Broadcast: Yes!
Action: Planetside
When: Now-ish

[Amusement Park]

[So this is where she goes when she wants time to think, apparently.  The bunker is a place she won't enter; between the heavy aftermath of a mass death and the understandably stricken reactions of its visitors, the atmosphere is far too toxic.  But it doesn't mean she isn't grieving.  The deaths could not be helped and are god knows how far in the past, but the fact that these people have been forgotten - not acknowledged even by this automated town, let alone the rest of space - is something that sits very poorly.  She can't even change anything about the town to reflect its population's final days.

She's walking the rollercoaster tracks, very high up, thinking over the issue.  Don't ask how she got up that high.  And don't worry if you should be using the rollercoaster at the time; she can avoid you.  Might give you a bit of a scare, though, sorry.

Eventually, she puts a call through to Sam.]

[Outside of town]

[As far as she can go before she suspects (or hopes) she's outside the range of the city's replication science so her work isn't scrubbed.  She's not too far from the bunker; it would be pointless if she were too far away from it. 

She finds a rock face smooth enough, and between a thick blade and Kirito's lightsaber she carves a memorial.  Maybe nobody will ever see it, but if any other visitors come to this place, they should know what happened.  It's worth the extra headache.]

[And Broadcast]

I've decided to quit making dreamcatchers and move on to voodoo dolls instead.  It's more fun.  So if you'd like to take one before I end up throwing them all out, feel free.

[Just so you know.  Totally honest, as usual.  Less cheerful than normal.

If anyone wants her she'll be curled up in her office with Licorice on her lap.  She's so tired of these planets.]

Comments

[ginger_firebird]

'Bob's your uncle,' right? Our team leader occasionally used weird phrases like that.

I came floating because you seemed to be someone who puts more thought into what looks interesting than what is safe. Call it a kindred spirit.

[hollystrike]

Oh, I like kindred spirits! [She sits down on the edge of the rails, feet swinging.] Safety is overrated. Are you military, then, or just from a really interesting call centre?

[ginger_firebird]

Military. [There's a slight pause as he speaks, and his shoulders droop a little.] Ex-military, technically. The job leaves you, but the habits never do.

[hollystrike]

Did you retire the job or did the job retire you?

[Sympathy, man. She's a cop at home and not particularly fond of military as an institution for various reasons, but shoulder droops speak the world.]

[ginger_firebird]

Second one. Not for a lack of trying on my part, but it ended more or less like I has thought it would.

[It's the droop of remembering exactly how he left his job back home, but they quickly come back up when he remembers who had done him in.]

I wish that it had been proper retirement.

[hollystrike]

[She gets you, man. She's pretty sure she has a forced 'retirement' waiting for her if she ever leaves this place.]

I guess we can't always get what we wish for. It'd be nice, though. Is the Fleet a good distraction, at least?

My sincerest apologies for the late tag!

[ginger_firebird]

[It eats away at his pride more than he'd care to admit. He feels so domesticated.]

At times. I took up sewing and ice skating to keep me busy.

It's not a problem!

[hollystrike]

Oh, ice skating. My mother tried teaching me to sew, but I never really had the patience for it. Ice skating, on the other hand...much more. Have you tried the ice rink on the Iskaulit?

[ginger_firebird]

I helped build it. Yuri is persuasive in a puppy-eyed kind of way. I don't think he realizes that he does it.

[hollystrike]

I know the type. [But she looks at him with renewed interest.] You helped build it? Was it hard?

[ginger_firebird]

Not as much as you might think. I have a talent that makes lifting heavy things very easy.

[hollystrike]

Goodness, you don't say. [She says mildly. To the floating man.] Does it ever tire you?

[ginger_firebird]

Plenty. This physique is built in part by an absurd level of burnt calories. [He pats his stomach.] Keeps me trim. Honestly, I kind of miss having larger things to push around. It's good exercise.

[hollystrike]

What's your limit in things to push around?

[Warning: she'll probably ask for a demonstration eventually, because that sort of stuff is amazing.]

[ginger_firebird]

[He moves back a ways and looks across the whole of the roller coaster. Then he points to the first hill.]

It was a machine about that tall, maybe more so. I nearly killed a man with it, but he was a little too skilled for me at the time.

[hollystrike]

[That's pretty impressive.]

Does that mean you could toss the ferris wheel at someone?

[ginger_firebird]

Theoretically, yes. I'm not sure that would amuse anyone else, but I could try to set it rolling.

[hollystrike]

The only person you ever need to amuse is yourself. [Idly.] Something to keep in mind if you ever visit a park where you don't like the staff, I suppose.

[ginger_firebird]

Roller coaster cars sent flying, stuffed animals suddenly flying to pieces in the games area... [Oh dear, he's smiling.] I could never set foot on the planet again, but it would be a good time.

[hollystrike]

[She laughs. Can't see the smile under that mask, but she can take a guess.] Just do it on the last day. You could call it your dramatic exit.

[ginger_firebird]

Like the world's most petty villain. It's always the seemingly ordinary people who come up with the most destructive ideas. Everyone has that bit of evil in them.

[hollystrike]

I certainly hope you're not calling me seemingly ordinary. I would be crushed.

[ginger_firebird]

Only in the sense that you don't outwardly portray yourself as being any real threat to anyone. My appearance has always erred towards more traditional forms of coloration that indicate danger.

[hollystrike]

I do wear a lot of red, though. Surely that might count? Though maybe that just makes me look more of a Christmas decoration, with the green eyes and all.

[She considers that.]

Well, there are worse fates.

[ginger_firebird]

Red can be very heroic. It's colors like purple or green that really bring out the horror of what someone does. Even all black doesn't have the kick it once did.