Charlotte Blaine (
aesthetic_mojo) wrote in
taxonomites2009-05-09 11:15 am
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[visual]
Charlotte sat at an empty table in her apartment, nothing on the glass top but a single, empty, wine glass. Even her kittens were out of sight. There's a whole lot of nothing but an increasingly morose blonde.
"I am bored. I haven't been bored in...twenty five years? At least. This is ridiculous."
She looked over at the tablet, so she looked straight out to anyone viewing. "What are we supposed to do here? My job is effectively moot in a place like this. There isn't even a hamster wheel to run on."
"I am bored. I haven't been bored in...twenty five years? At least. This is ridiculous."
She looked over at the tablet, so she looked straight out to anyone viewing. "What are we supposed to do here? My job is effectively moot in a place like this. There isn't even a hamster wheel to run on."
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"If a hamster wheel's really what you're looking for, I'm sure you could get one from one of those hatches. If not, I'd recommend getting a bit creative."
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"I suppose, if I wanted, I could create some artifacts and pepper them about the place, then wait a few days to go looking for them like some sort of demented Easter egg hunt. Or, even better, I could get someone ELSE to do that, and then tell them how much it was all worth." She raised an eyebrow. "Sound fun to you?"
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He's never considered himself to be insulting, either. Humorous, yes. Insulting? Well, maybe occasionally. But it's rarely intentional. He frowned, clearly perplexed by her outburst. Perhaps it's best not to bring up the "Easter egg" hunt he'd had the Easter just gone?
"I'm guessing I'm supposed to go with 'no'?" He tries, sounding a little confused.
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She tapped at the table in front of her. "My whole career, all my work, all have to do with the past and its value. Hard to do that when everything around you is a construct."
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He understood her frustration only too well. For a man with a career based largely around protecting the Earth from things not generally understood for years to come, he's always been extremely fascinated by the past. He picked up the old fashioned stopwatch from the desk he was sat at, and glanced down at it idly. "There aren't many who understand the value of the past. That's the problem with appreciating it. Everyone else just moves on... moves forward. By the time people start realising how important something was, it's gone. Forever. And then it happens all over again."
He paused, then tapped at the screen of his tablet. "What you have to think about it that to some people this is the past. Old fashioned. Outdated." He then held up his stopwatch. It's obvious it's old, but still well cared for. "But to some people, this is still the future. Hasn't happened yet. To them the mechanics of a watch would seem like holographic technology does to us." He slipped the stopwatch into his pocket, and stopped for a sip of coffee from the mug on his desk.
"Just try not to think about it so rigidly. Just because something's not from the past for you, that doesn't make it any less valuable."
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"Thank you, Mr. Jones. I needed to hear that." She bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "How has the research gone? Any conclusions?"
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He shrugged instead, a little apologetically. "No patterns in ages, species, or planet of origin. Most people are from Earth. United States if you want to be specific. Most people are human, and most are aged between twenty to forty. But they aren't patterns; too many differences for them to be. It's more like it's random than anything else. But it can't be. It's too much of a coincidence that I'd know three other people here. And I'm not the only one. We've been chosen for a reason, but exactly what that is... Well, we're drawing a blank."
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"Did you track that? How many of us have acquaintances? Maybe it's less about who we are as individuals and more about how we function as groups." Which, given who was there with her, was just terrifying. "And how did the super powers thing go? Is Superman flying around?"
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He quirked a smile, switching easily from professional to what could be teasing. "No Superman, unfortunately. Although we do have someone who can fly."
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If that were true, and there were more, they might have an answer right there. It wasn't an answer that would do much for her relationship with John, though.
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He looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. "Just the one that I know of. All sorts of superpowers, actually. Ranges from abnormally high intellect to... well, flying."
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He tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, recalling some of the abilities people had listed. "Telepathy, super strength, super speed... fast healing, witchcraft apparently." He laughed a little at the last one. Not exactly disbelieving... more like a man who's seen to much to truly be able to disbelieve anything, but still struggles to grasp a concept. "Ability to withstand extreme temperatures, force users, angels..." Ianto trailed off at that point. There was only one other ability he could think of off the top of his head, and his loyalty to Jack meant he wouldn't give that away. Not unless he died right in front of them.
"There are no patterns there. Not really. Some abilities are more common than others, but..." he shrugged, pulling a slight face. "I think it's about equal whether or not we have powers. Probably a few more who do than don't. Not everyone's willing to confide in a complete stranger about these things."
[visual]
And if it were true, if there were telepaths and other witches and...angel? Taxon was much more like what she'd feared it was. Someone was gathering up special people and putting them away like toys in a toy chest. "Well, maybe it'll be helpful in getting us out of here."
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He perked up considerably as something else occurred to him. "Mind you, some of were set over months. Weeks minimum. It's not as if we've ran out of clues just yet."
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She grinned. "All the best discoveries are essentially tripped over."
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"With a bit of luck, someone'll stumble across something pretty soon. Last I checked stories weren't supposed to involve large amounts of sitting around all the time. Who'd want to read about that?"
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She shook her head. "And on that note, I should go and help my Archie unpack boxes or whatever it is he wants me to do."
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"Go on, then. Captain Haddock'll be wanting a top-up right about now, anyway." He nodded towards his own mug. He thought he could use one himself, and though Jack was far from a frequent drinker he was a slave to Ianto's coffee.
[visual]
Still grinning, Charlotte cut the feed and then went to dial up a pair of short shorts for cleaning at John's.
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