station72 | mental link, day 32

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mental link, day 32

[ Sam crashed hard after the vigil, because between all the lies making him feel like he was going to puke and trying to pick them apart giving him one mother of a headache, staying awake felt like something you only do if you really hate yourself.

Do all newfound psychic powers suck this bad? He was fine with just flying and blowing things up, thanks. ]

( By the way, just figured everybody should know: Seong-Hye Ngazi is full of crap, the Public Safety Commission isn't half as gung-ho about bringing the bomber to justice as she makes it sound, and I'm like ninety percent she actually knows who did it, but that part I'm not quite positive about.

So, you know. In case anybody wanted to break into her office or stalk her or something. I hear some of you guys are actually good at the cloak and dagger stuff.

You're welcome. )

[ He can be found in the common area of the Bearings, scrolling through news reports and radiating pure frustration, if anyone would rather comment to his face instead of over the link. ]

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[ Right. Broodmates. Still kind of freaky to think about. Actually, she's pretty sure that will never be not freaky. ]

( Uh, sure. That'd be great. What kind of stuff do you have? )

( All kinds of stuff. I collect things. )

[There's a fleeting sensation - no, a series of vague images that feeds across the mental link. It brings a dull, low pulsing headache with the wobbly, ill-defined imagined version of a stack of local tech. There's a waterfall of cables, loose components and sleek file storage units and-- the image slips, breaking up into sensation. He can't project to her like this for very long. She's pretty new and her brain isn't really ready yet.]

( You can some to my room and look through it. )

[ Whoa. Pidge is pretty sure she would get a headache if that get up. It just feels a bit weird and off and a little fuzzy, like someone is trying to scrunch square thoughts into her head through a round hole. ]

( Uh, sure, that's probably a better idea than you trying to show me like this. It looks like some interesting stuff, though. Might be useful! )

[Yeah, that's probably better.]

( Okay. Whenever you want to stop by is fine. You might know what to look for more than me anyway. I just keep stuff I'm not always good at using it. )

( OK! Which room is yours? )

[ Totally on her way already. ]

[Another mental flash, a back of the mouth metal taste insight. The one in the middle of the hall. He's there now, conveniently enough.]

[ Oh, good! Because Pidge is on her way over. She raps on the door and then cautiously pokes her head in, feeling both curious and a bit cautious. ]

...Hello?

[The room's a disaster. There are stacks of miscellaneous equipment, crates of tools and loose wiring, unwrapped cables strung out across the floor - a pile of clothes (clean? dirty? who knows) and an assortment of forgotten glasses on the bedside table filled to varying levels with water.

Nirad is sitting on the bed, an island in the disaster zone. He has his Station-used databank before him and is pecking data into it line by line. He's not actually that fast at typing, though he can apparently do it with only half his attention as he lifts his face toward Pidge in the door and continues typing...whatever it is he's typing.]

Oh hey.

[ Oh, wow. Not that Pidge can judge. She's seen (and been) worse when it comes to having a lot of projects going or collecting items. She gingerly picks her way in, stepping over a few piles of things and then pausing to bend down and examine some cables and other bits and bobs. ]

Wow, you weren't kidding.

Yeah. [Tak tak tak go his fingers on the keyboard.] I don't really know how to use some of it, but I like to take things apart and stuff so... --Don't bother with that pile. [He indicates what appears to be a bunch of scrap piled in the back corner of the room.] I roasted them all when I took them apart so they're just pieces now. All the uh...the motherboard? Is fried, I guess.

Anyway, I don't know how useful it is but uh at least you can learn how it all fits together I guess? You can take anything apart that you want just be careful to wear rubber gloves or something. [Tak tak tak.] But if you wreck something I don't really mind.

[ Pidge pokes at the first pile he indicates with a little wince. Yep, these components look pretty done. Might as well recycle them. She glances back up with a little shrug and a little grin. ]

Really? What were you going to do with all of this, anyway?

[ She falls into a crouch and starts coiling some electric cable. That might be handy later... ]

Just... hold onto it?

[Nirad seems surprised by the question - his hands pause over whatever he's typing and he straightens marginally.]

Yeah, I guess? I like having stuff for a little while and you can learn a lot about places from their technology. Uh. It's usually the first thing I do. It's easier to talk to machines than people now, and I guess it seems sad to like... dump it when I'm done with it?

[He doesn't want to seem ungrateful... to a bunch of inert boxes. Whatever. It's stupid, but he likes having the junk around.]

Makes sense.

[ Pidge keeps on coiling the wire until it's nice and neat and then sets it aside and starts digging through another pile. There's some useful odds and ends here. She can definitely use some of it. She starts sorting it, trying to figure out what is going to go where and what might end up being used sooner rather than later. ]

Wait, you can talk to machines? And they talk back? In a way you understand?

Oh, uh-- [For a moment he looks incredibly embarrassed.] No. I'm just really bad at talking to people now. Ones that aren't hosts like us, I mean. Other people have a hard time remembering I'm around. Conversations are all like [he lifts his hands and makes them talk to eachother] 'Oh hi I'm Nirad', 'Hi Nirad, I'm so-and-so' and then we talk about something for a few minutes and then they go 'Sorry, who are you again?'

Machines remember me though. Like the androids do. Computers too.

Oh.

[ Pidge... kind of gets that. She's sort of awkward sometimes, too. And tends to ramble. But she's not that forgettable. Well, she thinks she isn't, and she doesn't really have a condition or anything. It's mostly just that she's a total nerd. ]

That sounds... weird. I won't forget about you, if it helps.

[He grins abruptly then and the low, murmuring buzz of what might have been electronics in the room rises perceptively - humming from his mind to hers, colored warm and bright and brilliantly cheerful for a moment. A laugh bubbling up in him that he doesn't actually give voice to.]

Oh, I know you won't. Other hosts don't. Just people outside the nest. It's something to do with the symbiote - it makes me hard to notice for other people. It's okay. It's useful. But-- [he shrugs] I appreciate it.

[He does. He really, really does.]

Really? That seems... kinda sad, I guess. What if you see your friends and family again? Are they going to have a hard time remembering you, too?

[ Pidge is still getting with the whole idea of the hive and this being permanent. Or being stuck here forever. There's a sense of family, of companionship, flashes of faces and emotions and half-formed memories. ]

[Is it sad? Some of the reflexive good humor in his expression fades by a degree; his fingers shift absently across the keyboard under them.]

I mean I guess. But I can't be here very long anyway, so it's better not to get attached. [Nirad hesitates for a beat. The shape of his mouth moves anxiously around some strong of words he doesn't quite say before settling on:] I don't know about my family. Maybe they wouldn't? But I don't think it really matters.

Anyway. [He brightens.] It's fine. You guys are my friends. --What about you? What's your power?

[ Well, she thinks it's sad. Other opinions may vary. ]

My power...?

[ She scratches her chin with a frown. ]

I'm pretty sure I can turn invisible. Which is kinda neat, I guess.

[He perks up visibly.]

Cool. Can you show me?

[That mental hum regulates, evens out, narrows to a point of attention turned in her direction.]

Uh, I can try. Hold on-

[ Pidge straightens up and frowns in concentration. It takes a few moments, but eventually she slowly fades out of sight, with the only trace of her being a slight ripple in the air. ]

[He watches with a single minded attentiveness, hands completely still over the keyboard and all his weight shifted forward. The moment Pidge starts to fade, Nirad makes a small triumphant noise. Whens she's gone more or less completely, he kicks his long legs out and springs off the edge of his bed to his feet. With one long inelegant stride across a pile of stuff, he's close enough to poke at her ripple in the air.]

Can you feel that?

[ He definitely hits something solid and Pidge nods before remembering she can't be seen. She clears her throat. ]

Yeah. I'm just invisible, not insubstantial.

[Poke. Poke. Poke. It seems a little compulsive, inspection by rote habit.]

Cool. [Wow, Nirad. So insightful.] That's really useful. Can you move when you're invisible or do you have to stand still?

OK, stop.

[ Her invisible hand swats at the offending finger. And promptly pops back into visibility. Huh. Looks like her concentration was broken. ]

I think I have to stand still...

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