video, un: j.k. [post-butterfly effect]

[aeturnus]

[ On the screen is one Cain, also known as Romulus, commonly known in the city as Jacob Kane. He looks normal. Normal as he's ever looked, really, but the confidence that he lacked during the recent event is back in full force and he's very nonchalant about it all. He's at a flimsy-ish table with a laptop off to the side where the camera is obviously his propped up phone instead. ]

Hey! Long-time no talk, Riverview Quarantine. Just a few things. If you met me over the last week and a half or so, that was... technically me but not. You know that thing that was going on? Yeah, that. Don't worry about it. Forget about all that.

Quick catch-up for those who have (or haven't!) met me, I go by Jacob Kane nowadays. [ Not Romulus. Nope. This total 180 is completely normal considering he hardly looks any older or different at all. ] My job while I'm here is designing phone apps. I've been here for about two months now and I think this is my first actual post on the network. Anything interesting happen while I wasn't looking?

to Doom; Still good for lessons?

to Shai; Thank you. For everything you did.

to Natsume; Seen anything like our colorful friend lately?

Comments

[greyjane]

She's small, my girl. Ten man crew at the most, and that's two to a bunk.

[Well, why not. She makes a small construct of the Ephemera in the air, she's a sleek thing, smooth lines, no drag, form like a diving falcon.]

Ships her size aren't economical to run, mostly. Not big enough for cargo or significant manpower, any regular fleet tried to run her and they'd bankrupt themselves on fuel costs.

[aeturnus]

[ That's still one of the cooler things Cain's seen, even with his restored years and experience here in the Quarantine. Where he'd been too anxious to reach out before, now he raises a hand to try and run the tips of his fingers along the outer hull. ]

Like the sports car of space. I'd say SUV but those have room. What's someone do with a ship too small to transport, too costly to keep?

[greyjane]

[The construct is solid beneath his fingers, crackling with that same gentle energy as before. The ship dips. Showing off a bit, and Shai flashes a smile that's all teeth.]

Whatever needs doing, sweetheart.

[She has a rather terrifying reputation, and it's not unearned. She doesn't just have a crew, she has a strike force.]

[aeturnus]

[ Oh, yeah. That's cool. He grins lightly and traces it more, definitely entranced by the design and the idea. Maybe someday he'll be making spaceships in his garage to stave off the days ahead of him. Maybe he'll make one like this.

At her comment, he inclines his head in her direction. ]

Point taken. What do you do around here if you don't mind me asking?

[greyjane]

[The fact he's not pushing earns him points, at least. In all honesty, she'd have been much more willing to discuss things with Romulus than with Jacob Cain -
but it's nice not to be pressed just the same.]

Electrical engineering. It's what I would have done with myself if I hadn't entered the military.

[Since... you know. Energy manipulation and all.]

[aeturnus]

Oh?

[ Now he pulls his hand away to regard her. Something like an innocent look on his face. ]

Why's that?

[greyjane]

[Blandly,]

I like math.

[aeturnus]

Oh, right, perfect sense.

[ He lets the look fade and smiles instead. ]

I've noticed they're pretty good about finding jobs for people here.

[greyjane]

Mm.

[It's a noise of agreement, mostly. They placed her after an extensive interview, but--]

In all honesty, I'd rather be knocking heads together. Guess they're shorter on engineers than they are on soldiers.

[Shai doesn't like to really Think in her day to day life. It's why she runs until she's exhausted, why she doesn't like to sit idle. Violence is simple, mindless, easy, and much preferred to any alternative insofar as she's concerned.]

But computer programming? You liking it?

[aeturnus]

It's not any great fulfilling reason for my being or anything... but it works. [ He shrugs, not really bothered by apparently having a boring job. ] Between you and me, I may have thrown the interview to try and get something that would be easier than the usual 9-5.

I mean, there's too much here to be stuck behind a desk all day or chained to a paycheck.

[ That insatiable curiosity still seems to be in tact, at least. Funny for a guy his age. ]

[greyjane]

[That gets a laugh and a wry shake of her head. Must be hard to stay innately curious when you've probably walked the circumference of the ever-changing globe a million times over. It's the first real thing that takes her back to Romulus. Is it weird, to miss someone who's still standing before you?

(That's a dumb question to ask, when she knows Winterlace.)]

You'd like the Lattice. Twenty-nine worlds. Different cultures, half a million different languages and dialects - not counting the dead ones - space travel, the works.

[Lots of war. They've not yet entered their age of serenity. Space travel's only been a Thing for a few hundred years, and losing Janirak destabilized the carefully held peace agreements that had tentatively been put in place after the last interplanetary mishap.]

[aeturnus]

[ That's a question Cain asks himself every day. He'd started seeing Abel every day once they actually met again... but there's only brief sparks of Remus left in him. It doesn't change anything, though, they're still brothers and he knows Abel feels the same even without memories. Only problem is that right now they're fighting and being stuck here and having no chance to fix it is vexing. ]

Half a million? And I thought my forty-something was impressive. I'll have to work on that. Not sure how I feel about the space travel myself.

[greyjane]

I could always teach you mine.

[She says that in the tone of someone obviously teasing, but Tangau was a small country, and she hasn't heard anyone speak its tongues aloud in years. Orpheo will sometimes step across dimensions and space and use it in her head, which is a comfort - but a small one.

She misses him, in too many ways to name. He was always a good fortification against loneliness.]

Space travel's a breeze, honestly. Only scary if you think about it too hard.

[aeturnus]

Hey, I'd never say no to learning a new language. We could even trade.

[ A dead Earth language for a cool space language. Even exchange, right? Totally. ]

Oh, I don't know. I've had my feet on the ground for almost three thousand years. Might just go slow if at all.

[greyjane]

[Shai sucks at languages that Orpheo hasn't just dropped into her brain, so good... luck with that... She laughs.]

You're welcome to try and teach me one, but I'll warn you that I'm the worst student you could ever have.

[Maybe that's an exaggeration. She used to love learning once upon a time.]

How do you process time? Days seem more like minutes?

[aeturnus]

Not a very high bar. Don't usually take on students.

[ It's just a for-friends thing, more often than not. He doesn't quite have the patience to teach people he's got no stake in. ]

It's not that bad, but something like it. I can stop and smell the roses with the best of them but if I lose some days working on something, it's not a big deal.

[ Or months. He's done months just not really paying attention at all. Most of the time he has other people to help keep him anchored, though. ]

[greyjane]

[There's an inference there that makes her sort of... just give him a Look, but she's not going to ask questions. Regardless of age, it seems, he's someone who cares a lot about a lot of things. Having someone care for you, regardless of how shallow it is, has always been something she's seen as a sort of... responsibility. One of the few in life she prefers to shy away from, but then -- he'd gone and made his position on that already quite clear.

She huffs a bit of a laugh.]

Well, we can give it a try. See how it goes. No hard feeling if the teaching isn't to your fancy.

[To the rest, she nods. Time is a fickle thing. Her people live longer than humans, but not so much so as to be significant. Average life expectancy goes up when technology and living situations improve, when organs can be grown in vats and swapped out for whatever it is you've gone and worn out. She wonders how her perception of it differs from a 'normal' person, how long months in space flight stack up against people who travel by more... conventional means.

Too much to think about. She'll worry about it later.]

Imagine not. I'd've gone out of my mind with boredom by your age, I reckon. [A slight pause. Then,] Glad you haven't, for what it's worth.

[aeturnus]

[ That look Shai gives him is only met with raised brows and an easy smile. No matter what stories he has, nowadays he's rather proud to say he hasn't needed anyone to care for him in quite a long time. Being at his age, it would be embarrassing — and it's different from people caring for each other like friends, but having someone look out for you as a responsibility is different. He's never going to be that helpless again. ]

You have a preference? Anything you've heard of you'd like to try?

[ That merely gets a shake of his head. ]

Me too. Believe it or not, it's an acquired skill to keep busy.

[greyjane]

[She works her jaw off to one side in speculation.]

Know anything that doesn't get used much anymore?

[There are plenty of reasons she's drawn to the idea of dead languages. Only one of them is the fact that Janirak has thousands.

She laughs at that last statement, though.]

Kveth's tits, oh, I believe it.

[She's having to utilize that same skill here. Otherwise she'd be the one gone mad.]

[aeturnus]

Latin comes to mind. My native tongue, but it's dead by now.

[ And really, he's only recently had reason to revive his knowledge of it, bring himself back to fluency. Even Cain was about ready to let Latin go before he met back up with Abel. ]

Losing track of time... That makes it easier, but you miss out on a lot that way, too.

[greyjane]

That one, then.

[Just like that, her mind's decided. Hope you like teaching someone all about seven different types of noun.]

Mm. Happy to be mortal, me.

[She used to be afraid to die, but when you face something regularly enough it becomes mundane, and thus is all the fear stripped down to its basest element of nothingness.]

[aeturnus]

Sure.

[ Oh, he's so ready. Like how he just replied in Latin there. Maybe it won't end in them murdering each other, too! ]

Yeah. Probably the better end of the deal overall.

[ Cain just shrugs, because he didn't choose this and he doesn't have a choice in the end. Just waiting time out instead of his own time gets tiring. ]

[greyjane]

[Wow Shai only murders people she doesn't like!! Usually. Mostly. Except in cases of war, when it's a free-for-all.]

Do you tell people? Back home, I mean.

[Okay, so maybe that's verging into personal questions and she'd wanted to avoid them mostly, but she is curious. Does his world have other people with powers or abilities? Is it commonplace or completely esoteric? She's never had cause to hide who she is - what she does - and the thought that there are worlds out there where it's the default bewilders her immensely.]

[aeturnus]

Mostly just family. Close friends. Might have to reconsider it soon, but... [ Cain just shrugs. ] I'm the only one, so it's a new thing for people every time.

[ Maybe he's treading closer and closer to that anonymous conversation he had with Shai before. It doesn't matter in the end, because it wasn't a bad talk and she seemed to understand why he'd approach it without a name. Still, if it just doesn't connect, he's not going to bring it up outright himself. ]

[greyjane]

[She expects that he'd bring it up if he wanted her to know. But speaking of,]

There's another fellow running about with the same condition. Might not be a bad thing to hook up with him and swap war stories. If nothing else, I imagine you'd keep each other occupied a good long while.