taxonomites | xii [ location: speares ] / [ (accidental) visual ]

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xii [ location: speares ] / [ (accidental) visual ]

"He was the one who was going to go as far as he could get, not me!" A twelve-year-old glitched James Kirk grumbled, tablet in hand as he kicked at a rock just outside the conjoined pieces of the Enterprise. "This isn't any place; this is nowhere!"

Kicking another rock for good measure, the young Kirk set off in a direction that wasn't back into the section of starship he'd stepped out of moments before the tablet decided it was going to record his escape from the ship. Only, it wasn't so much an escape (as there had been no one forcing him to stay within those too-white walls) as it was succumbing to restlessness. Clearly, the crew of that ship was off somewhere and they weren't coming back anytime soon, so what was the use in sitting around waiting for them? He was going to get in just as much trouble later whenever Frank found him if he was on that ship or not. There was no help in looking for answers somewhere that wasn't there.

Whatever he thought was going on here before clearly wasn't and he had no clue what-so-ever what was. It was both infuriating and frightening at the same time; and though he did his best to show the former for appearance's sake, he felt much more of the latter. That wouldn't inhibit his quest for answers, however. This planet couldn't be populated by just two confused kids on a chunk of starship, right?

( ooc: not exactly the start of his kid!glitch, but a continuation of it and on a post of his own, so pester away! )

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So, for many valid, legitimate reasons beyond that of convenience, Buffy just so happened to be 'in the area' when little Kirk was making his intrepid escape. She didn't connect him immediately to the ship when she spotted him walking along, or anything in fact-- her thought process went approximately as follows: 'whoa little kid, looks kinda wigged, probably not an Extra then, maybe I should see if he needs help'.

Decision thus reached, she jogged a little to catch up with him, asking as she drew level, "Hey, are you okay?"

Jim had remained on the ship over the course of the past few days, making use of the couch he'd unknowingly slept on for a few months after first arriving when he wasn't glitched into a much younger version of himself. He'd been convinced that the crew was out on an away mission and would soon return, but after two days of waiting, no one came back. Did that ship even have a crew in the first place?

He was half-convinced he and Leonard were the only people on this rock, but that voice and the woman it belonged to running up to him proved that theory wrong.

"Yeah," was his answer, spoken with less confidence than he intended. "You...live here or something?"

Yeah, she wasn't terribly convinced by that response. The question was odd too, given that he didn't behave like the Extras did-- but she'd never heard of any kids being brought to Taxon before. Maybe the aliens were getting less picky or something, in all the worst ways.

"Unfortunately," she nodded, frowning a little, with concern. "I'm not from here originally. You... aren't either, are you?"

If only it were that simple. At least that sort of explanation would have made some sense to the mind of a twelve-year-old boy from a world chock-full of aliens, where traveling to other planets was somewhat daily routine and kidnappings by malevolent races with a distaste for the Federation. Thankfully, this change that had taken place in him wouldn't last for much longer, though the man this boy was supposed to be was likely to be pretty pissed about it for weeks to come.

Almost hesitantly, he nodded in confirmation. The hand that wasn't clutching the tablet tugged worriedly on the edge of the jacket he wore. "I'm from Iowa, ma'am."

"Iowa," she repeated, slowly. Of course it could just be casual coincidence, couldn't it? That this little boy was from Iowa, the same place as her boyfriend, who she hadn't seen for a couple of days. It could be, but Buffy had lived in Taxon long enough not to believe it was. The fact that she'd seen Dean turn into a six year old before made her suspicions all the more credible.

Noticing again how freaked out he looked, she tried for a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry. This place is a little strange, but it's safe, I promise." She wanted to offer him comfort in some physical way, but putting a hand on his shoulder might be patronizing-- and weird, coming from a stranger. So instead, she offered her hand for a shake. "I'm Buffy. From California. What's your name?"

She thought she already knew, of course, but she had to ask anyway.

Jim eyed the woman, alternating his gaze between her face and her hand, as if he was unsure of whether or not he should give her a chance. He opted to do so, as made obvious by him putting his hand into hers (albeit hesitantly) and giving it a shake.

"James Tiberius Kirk, but you can call me Jimmy. Most people do."

"It's nice to meet you, Jimmy." She smiled, unable, despite the seriousness of the situation, to keep from feeling a little internal squee of 'oh god, wasn't he adorable?' She wondered whether or not she ought to explain the truth, that she knew him already, that he wasn't usually this age, but it seemed like that would only scare him off-- or make him think she was crazy. Or a fun combination of both. So instead, she asked, casually:

"So, umm, where have you been staying since you got here? 'Here' being a city called 'Taxon', in case nobody explained that yet."

He wasn't sure whether or not telling this woman where he'd been staying was a good idea or not, but she seemed nice and at this age, Jim was much more trusting of people than he was as an adult as his view of the world hadn't yet been fully tainted. It couldn't hurt to answer the question, right?

"That ship over there. Or the parts of it. I'm not sure if it's the Republic or not." Squint at her in confusion he asked, "Taxon? Is that a planet?"

Buffy glanced over at the aforementioned parts of ship, then back at Jim again. What was with him and sleeping in completely inappropriate uncomfortable places, at any age? She would spare him the lecture though.

"Oh, that's the Enterprise, actually-- I've been inside. I thought it was very cool." It felt quite odd to be saying that to the future captain.

"Nope, it's just the name of the city. Nobody's really sure what's outside the city, or what planet it's on," she realized that that statement probably sounded bizarre, so she continued. "You see, we've all been sort of... transported here, without knowing why or how or who by."

"I was born on a ship," he said, feeling more at ease. "Well, a shuttle, actually. In the Romulan Neutral Zone on the edge of Klingon Space. My parents' ship was attacked by this huge Romulan ship that came out of this lightning storm in space! The Romulans killed the captain, so my dad had to take command and he ordered everyone off the ship before he rammed the it into the Romulan's ship. He died, but he saved eight hundred people. He's a hero."

At this age, Jim was nothing but proud of what his father had done and who he was. The weight of the annoyance and irritation that would come later on in life with being forever regarded as that kid who was born in the shuttle escaping the Kelvin had yet to settle upon his shoulders. He wasn't bitter about it or angry as his older self was, for Frank's wrath had yet to come down upon him, being that his brother had shielded him thus far from their step-father's hand when their mother was away on assignment.

"...transported? Someone beamed us all here?"

Edited 2009-11-23 22:15 (UTC)

She, of course, knew all this already, because older Jim had told her as much himself the first time she went to see the Enterprise. It was nice hearing the story again though, without that weight to it-- she'd gotten the impression before that Jim's father was very much a no-go topic. She did a good job of looking surprised, however.

"Wow, really? That's pretty amazing. Do you want to grow up to be a captain like your dad someday?"

With a genuinely apologetic expression, she shook her head. "Not exactly, but something like that I think-- I'd offer to try and get hold of somebody back home for you, but the tablets don't work long-distance."

It hadn't become a no-go topic until he'd gotten into high school and had to deal with the constant questions from his teachers and peers about how it felt to be the son of the man who went down with the Kelvin to save those eight hundred people. He didn't remember the event. He'd been an infant of a few minutes then and the earliest memories he had had nothing to do with that event. That instant recognition of you're George Kirk's son at every turn made him beam with pride until things started going bad at home after Sam left, then his father's absence became one of many sources of blame as he grasped at straws in attempt to make his life make sense.

His father's death was easier to understand now that he knew where Nero had come from and what the man had intended to do...but it didn't mean it was easier to handle. And he'd be lying if he said that he didn't hold the elder Spock from the other timeline at least partially to blame. He couldn't help it, even if it wasn't Spock's fault.

Good thing the little boy didn't know anything about that yet.

"I don't know. My brother says that Starfleet takes people away from you..." Sam was an uncomfortable topic for him right now, so he focused on the other thing she said. "It's okay. I'm sure my mom will come looking for me soon. She was off-planet on a mission, but she's coming home."

Buffy's feigned surprise of a moment ago was now replaced with a quite genuine version of the same sentiment. Jim never really talked about his brother, or his childhood-- it was sort of tempting, whilst he was in this state, to ask questions, to indulge her curiosity. At the same time, however, she didn't want to know these things until he was ready to tell her himself. Until he wanted to talk about it. It would feel wrong to take advantage of the circumstances of the glitch to get access to a part of him he might not want to share.

So, rather than probe further, she just nodded and smiled. She didn't have the heart to tell him there was no way his mother would find him.

"I'm sure she will too." With a gesture in the direction he'd been walking in previously, she asked, "So umm, in the meantime, did you know where you were going or were you just tired of hanging out in the ship?"

"This place is actually known as Taxon. It is a place. Just not the place we are meant to be."

Helen supposed they were meant to be where they were. It was possible. No one could ever understand fate or what destiny was supposed to be. Not until it called upon them. It seemed another child had appeared in Taxon. Either someone turned into one, or they finally brought proper children into the city.

She looked up from her work at the tablet. "Are you alright?"

Jim stopped walking at the sound of the older woman's voice, raising the tablet into view (and into into both hands instead of just the one), peering at the image displayed to him on the archaic piece of technology. It was a face he didn't recognize, which went along with the unfamiliar voice. Jim was weary,but the woman's sentiment seemed genuine enough and being that his was over a comm channel and not in person, he felt comfortable enough to answer--

"Just fine, ma'am." As well as ask, "Is Taxon the name of this planet?"

"Certainly the name of the city. I would believe it's proper to call it the name of the planet as well. Given we have no idea what is actually beyond the city." She smiled at the young boy and gave him a nod. "A rather strange name. Don't you think?"

"Taxis is the Latin word for order," he mused cleverly. "Taxon. Taxis. Strange name for a colony."

A colony? Well, it was certainly somewhat of one.

"You're rather young to be knowing Latin."

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xii [ location: speares ] / [ (accidental) visual ]

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