(CLOSED)

[erbier]

CHARACTERS: Ilde & Lexa (some Angel)
WHERE: the Alkon Facility
WHEN: Day 161 - 163
SUMMARY: The ladies from a pair of hard-scrabble worlds have decided to go on a hard-scrabble mission beneath the earth to look for supplies and weapons data.
WARNINGS: Definitely death and some horror elements, will update as necessary.

Comments

[erbier]

( I have camped near our site of landing, I may find some of our requirements amongst the gear. )

[ If they could limit their shopping list in the port as much as possible, it would benefit them after all the ruckus that has been made. ]

[adamance]

( Then we'll begin there. )

[Though she doubts that they will be able to find all that they require among it.]

( Tell me more about where we're headed. )

[It's important to multitask while she heads over.]

[erbier]

( He and his crew found some kind of deed proposing the site. It drew my attention as it listed their gear. Useful to us, perhaps, even if it cannot be sold. )

[ The reason they are going is a place to to start. ]

( It is hidden beneath the Hot Line, and there is a tunnel entrance in the plains. My data-screen has the location stored. Blueprints as well, it is a large area, the map will do us well. )

[adamance]

( That should do. I think having a better idea of why we've been brought here might suit us. It shouldn't just be so that we can procure currency. )

[At least, Lexa would prefer that they have a better reason for being on this planet. As much as she can obtain objects that are necessary to survival, she would rather not be left to that with some regularity.]

[erbier]

( Monetary gain does not seem coherent with the station's goals. )

[ Agreement, although she would not claim to entirely understand the point of this mission either. ]

( But I find this preferable to running circles. )

[ She does not understand the point of jogging, okay... ]

[adamance]

[There's a hint of amusement from her end.]

( Remaining fit is necessary to our survival. I'm certain more than one Host ran before they were rescued. )

[It's a play at humor, at least to a degree.]

[erbier]

[ Ilde understands her perfectly well, that was exactly why she found running laps in a gym so ludicrous. What lives did they lead that they needed to practice running? She has begun to understand some of it. It had been clearer when Steve had said to her that he had never had to kill anyone before. How strange, how safe. ]

( I wonder which of the Hosts would win the race. )

[ Her own cruel humor. ]

[adamance]

( It would depend on what inspired them to move in the first place. )

[For most, that very same survival would not be the answer.]

[erbier]

( There is such disparity between us all. )

[ Thoughtful, wondering how they were expected to find common motivation. Perhaps that came with time, attachment to the Hive. ]

[adamance]

( I believe we've left behind the idea of races. The disparity can be dealt with. We can only hope that it won't involve a great deal of bloodshed. )

[It's an oddly pragmatic statement given the sense of hope behind it. But Lexa has a great deal of experience in uniting people under a common banner, so to speak. She can do it again if it proves necessary.]

[erbier]

[ Ilde has only ever seen such unity accomplished through terror and violence. To call what was exhibited in her world 'unity' at all was somewhat of a stretch. The easy luxury of the brood was alluring, if utterly unfamiliar, strange. And still... united? Not particularly. ]

( Pain and fear motivate well. )

[ Already she has contemplated what it would be like to lose one of her brood, it had caused a sensation of panic that had triggered her abilities like a switch, radiating fear into the room around her... She knew already she needed to tend to them carefully. That she needed them. ]

[adamance]

( They reach their limits before long. You have to have a place for hope. )

[There's a rueful feeling that follows these words. She knows they don't come from her, but she knows that it's what she's provided her people. Fear and pain both led her to making necessary choices, and they will always be a factor.

But they cannot be everything.]

[erbier]

( Too many hope to return home. )

[ She knows Anakin does, and that made him distant in the brood, hard to reach. That was a weakness in their chain. ]

[adamance]

( You disagree with that sentiment. )

[It's not a question, but a statement. Lexa has every intention of returning to her people. She doesn't call it something so intangible as hope. No, she intends to make it happen.]

[erbier]

[ Hm... disagree is not quite the word. ]

( It is a distraction, for some. )

[ She certainly wouldn't make that statement about Lexa. ]

( And I do not wish to return. )

[adamance]

( You don't have to. )

[The statement feels simple enough. Lexa has spoken easily about choice and free will, and what it means for all of them when they've handed so much away. She'll adhere to that now. If Ilde hopes to remain in this life, or end up somewhere else, then so be it: they all have different responsibilities and drives.

From what she's heard from Angel, she suspects that it's the same. Not all want to return home. It isn't surprising.]