IC Inbox

[littletonoidea]

"This is the audio log of Communications Officer Doug Eiffel of the-- previously of the U.S.S Hephaestus, leave a message and I'll see if I can bear to drag myself away from whatever utterly engaging task I must be doing to not notice my comms--"

BZZZZZZZ

Action | Text | Voice | Video

Comments

[cactusy]

cool

[She has no idea who Roman is and would probably reassess her word choice if she'd met him even once, but.]

good

> Audio

[littletonoidea]

[There's like a solid minute or two with no response.

Then:]

Can we get a raincheck on how long you're gonna be weird about this for so we can hang out later?

[He still sounds like crap but he's up to full sentences now!]

> Audio

[cactusy]

I'm not gonna be weird about the attack if you're not.

[She sounds tired, even flatter than usual, and a little disassociated.]

Gonna be weird about the mind control thing for a while, though. Few days, maybe.

Re: > Audio

[littletonoidea]

Fair enough. Mind control's the frickin' worst. Hilbert's stupid plant monster possessed me at the start of the year.

> Audio

[cactusy]

... Huh.

You okay?

[littletonoidea]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it didn't really do much besides make demands for fertiliser and threaten to turn everyone into mulch, but it was still obnoxious. Like, that's my body, man, go get your own.

[cactusy]

Yeah.

When did you wanna hang out.

[littletonoidea]

Love a woman that knows what she wants.

I dunno, whenever you're free? I'm still gonna be sleeping this off for a bit, but you're clear to come over and watch a movie or something with me. Or if you don't like how video killed the radio store, I've got a couple dozen mix tapes I like to cycle through in my downtime.

[cactusy]

Is zero-G an option?

[littletonoidea]

On as default, babe. Swing by whenever, I'll put some pants on real quick.

[cactusy]

Oh my way. Also wearing pants.

[Ha. Ha. Ha.

He'll get a knock on his door about ten minutes later. Time to f l o a t.]

[littletonoidea]

[The door opens with a loud creak from the inside, and-- perhaps shockingly, it's classical music playing. Which is entirely incongruous with the horrible t-shirt and cargo pants, most of the pockets of which are bulging with weird corners and stripped cables.

His hair is still fuzzy and short, but it's freshly washed and Eiffel gives her a bright smile, pushing himself away from the door by way of pushing it open so Shaw can come in.]

What's up, hot stuff.

[cactusy]

[Shaw in the wake of her death toll had looked tired and sick, but functional enough, even when she probably shouldn't have been. Shaw in the wake of being mindfucked by a vampire looks wiped, and done with life. She moves past Eiffel with only a quiet grunt of acknowledgement, breathing out a quiet sigh as she lets the lack of gravity lift her off her feet.]

[littletonoidea]

[Eiffel lets her drift pass, so he can close the door behind her.]

Good talk.

[And when it's shut and locked, he kicks off it so he can coast into the middle of the room, picking up half of a walkie talkie that he's disassembled and pulls a screwdriver out from his back pocket.]

You wanna change the music, just ask Tiny Hera. She's got your back.

[cactusy]

[Shaw lets herself drift upwards and upwards and upwards, until her nose is inches from the ceiling. It's nice. With her body suspended in space and touching nothing, she feels like she's barely here at all.]

Tiny... Hera?

[She croaks belatedly, after a few long moments of silence.]

[littletonoidea]

[The tinny voice in Eiffel's headphones, that are jacked into a server tower tucked into the corner of the room, is amplified by the speakers to fill the entire room in a polite, feminine, slightly glitchy voice.]

How can I help you, Warden Shaw?

[Eiffel uses both hands to gesture at the room as a whole.]

Tiny Hera! She's my warden item, I plugged her into the speaker system for a laugh. Not as awesome as the real one, but I'll take what I can get.

[cactusy]

Huh.

[She cracks an eye, then closes it again.]

Never had an AI ask me that before.

[littletonoidea]

"She's polite," he points out primly, in a way that almost seems defensive. But then he's flipping himself backwards and into a gentle spiral as he calls out, "Tiny Hera, you there?"

"Yes, Officer Eiffel?"

"You mind telling me where Doc Ock's at, at the mo'?"

"Currently your inmate is located in the library, third floor. He appears to be engaged with a book of poetry."

He smiles, and there's something indescribably soft to it. "Thanks, babe."

[cactusy]

"Oh, my god," Shaw mutters to the ceiling. "What is it about robots."

Why do so many people get hot for robots!!

[littletonoidea]

Eiffel gives her a raised eyebrow, from his weird contorted croissant shape. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

[cactusy]

Look, she's just saying, if she had a nickel for every time someone she knew was a little too into their robot friend, she'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice.

"You'd get along with a friend of mine from home, that's all."

In retrospect, it's surprising that she's never heard Root call the Machine "babe".

[littletonoidea]

He narrows both eyes as he flips to look at her properly. "Cut that out, Cupid. Hera's my best friend back home, literally in the entire galaxy."

[cactusy]

"I stand by my assessment," she murmurs. "Does it talk to everyone, or just you?"

[littletonoidea]

"She," he corrects sternly. "Can talk to anyone, but this isn't her AI, just her voice. But it's nice having a familiar face around, you know?"

For a given value thereof. Since... AI.

"Or whatever."

[cactusy]

Shaw laughs suddenly, though it's neither a mocking sound, nor a genuinely amused one. She. Of course. Of fucking course.

"Sorry," she says after a moment, once the impulse fades. "I'm not-- laughing at you."