video, @chronicler

[scholiast]

(The feed flicks on facing a large tank, propped up on a desk. There's a slight shuffling; a hand appears on the side of it, and then Lucretia pops into view, peering through the glass. Those who already know her might be surprised by her altered appearance: she is noticeably older, and looks around fifty instead of her previous late twenties.)

Where did it go?

(She makes a face, then reaches out to her camera as if to end the feed: thankfully, what she had lost comes swimming into view at that exact moment in a blur of purple and electric blue, pressing against her cheek. It's a small jellyfish, hovering in the air. Lucretia chuckles, cupping her hand about it as she faces the camera.)

I thought I'd take a moment to introduce everybody to Junior. It's a voidfish– a kind of... (she pauses, gesturing vaguely with one hand as Junior curls a little tendril around her ear,) fish-esque alien, I suppose. From space? (It's complicated.)

It enjoys consuming memories, and specifically enjoys art, so I thought I would extend a request to the network for any kind of media they might like to share with it. Usually, giving it something to eat would erase whatever is given from the minds of everybody who has not drunk of its ichor, but I think the climate here doesn't agree with Junior's powers. Not according to some tests I've been doing; the memory loss is very temporary.

But I digress: it loves all things creative: paintings, music, poetry... So if you'd like your work to be judged by a fish, there's always that option available.

(She makes to turn the feed off, then pauses.) Oh, and if anybody knows where I could find an optometrist in this place, I'd be really grateful. My prescription has... changed some what.

Comments

@ciscodelamancha | text

[franciscoramon]

[ Well this just got Complicated.

Cisco watches the video over a few times before he sends off a response, and he's still doing a great deal of thinking, so he starts small. Simple. Because things are probably gonna get unsimple before too long.

He hasn't spoken to Lucretia in a while - definitely not since she'd gotten older, and double definitely not since her fight with Taako. It's... weird. Seeing the woman he recognized, but so much older. Like a different person. ]

it's cute af.
i've got some comic books you can feed it. there's a few i've got doubles of.
i could make it something original, too, if the whole creativity thing extends to machines.

( text; ) un: shigeru miyata

[mysophobic]

I...have a lot of drawings that I used as practice sketches, if that would work?

[ He doesn't mind his work being judged, although having it done by a fish is a new one for him. ]

audio

[scholiast]

(Lucretia switches to audio, so she can keep drawing as she talks, little mindless doodles to give to the voidfish as a treat.)

Oh, you should: kind of like a uh, word and picture burger. Delicious.

And I think that it probably does; honestly, Junior is game for anything at this point. It's probably getting sick of my sketches.

audio

[scholiast]

Certainly would. What are the sketches of?

(Junior doesn't care; she's personally interested.)

video; b.potts

[tutee]

Lucretia? You're-- [ Old. Except Bill cant just say that. ] You look different.

video

[scholiast]

(Oh, uh. Awkward. Lucretia makes a face, like she's trying not to laugh.)

Yeah, uhhhhh. Surprise, I suppose.

video; un: kirk

[winscenario]

I've got quite a few books. Novels and poems, literature both from my world and others. [ Whatever he could get his hands on, really. ] Also plenty of music. I'm always happy to share, even with a jellyfish. So long as I get to have it all back once it's done with it.

As for your other question, you might want to try the hospital. Even if they don't have an optometrist there, which I doubt, I'm sure they'd be able to point you in the direction of a clinic.

[tutee]

[ Laughing would be an appropriate response. Bill is just too shocked and confused to laugh. ]

...Alright, but... how?

[scholiast]

I received a canister from the portal and it filled in an odd– oh...

(She gestures vaguely, still fighting a smile,) sixty-seven years? Give or take.

[scholiast]

(Oh, this might be a problem huh.)

Well– about that. (She rips off a piece of the paper she's been doodling on and holds it up to the camera for him to see: it's just a scribble of a duck, simple stuff. But the voidfish, spotting it, hums loudly, plucks the piece of paper out of her fingers before she can hand it over, and promptly consumes it.)

Thanks. All the squinting is starting to make me look unfriendly.

[tutee]

Sixty-seven years of what? Physical aging?

[ None of this makes sense to her. ]

[winscenario]

Oh. [ Jim hums, thoughtful for a moment, then shrugs. ] I can always make duplicates. Think it'll be fine with just copies of my stuff?

[ He is not going to give it his book collection, no. Sorry about that, buddy.

Chuckling, he nods. ] Yes, the squinting does make you look terribly judgmental. [ He's not particularly serious. ]

[scholiast]

Not quite. I spent another sixty-five years on the Starblaster without changing at all, then two years outside that. So I would have looked thirty, I suppose, if I hadn't gone and gambled away twenty years of my life in Wonderland.

(She looks directly in the camera, raising an eyebrow. She feels quite badly for Bill, this must be confusing.)

It's... complicated; I'm sorry.

[tutee]

[ It is confusing. But Bill is doing her best to understand. ]

So this canister... It made you remember all those years, as though you were out there living them?

[scholiast]

Of course; I'll take duplicates of anything you wish to share. I don't think it can tell any difference.

(Or maybe it can? Maybe it's like home-brand, versus the real stuff. Lucretia has no idea.)

It's very fantasy Clint Eastwood of me. (She's a bit self-conscious about it, actually.) Also not great, like, headache-wise.

[scholiast]

Yes.

It wasn't great; I can't recommend it.

[tutee]

Yeah. I bet.

[ She makes a face, getting lost in thought for a moment. Then she shakes her head to break out of it. ]

Sorry, I was sort of... [ shocked ] ...surprised. I might have missed the whole point of your post. What sort of things does your... friend, there, like to have?

[winscenario]

Well, even if it can, that's as much as I'm willing to offer. I'm very attached to my collections, sadly.

[ Not to mention that old paper books and vinyls are considered true relics where he comes from. He couldn't possibly part with them, particularly when he knows it'll only be consumed— literally. ]

You know Clint Eastwood? That's brilliant. [ You know, with the voidfish and alien talk, he sort of wondered if she'd even be familiar with Earth. ] Think your friend would like some movies, too?

[scholiast]

No, it's okay. I'm sorry, Bill, I... (meant to say something? Honestly, it's been one hell of a week, and Lucretia had simply forgotten to send her a message. She leaves that hanging in the air for a beat, then changes the subject.)

All sorts. It uh, loves ducks?

[tutee]

Don't apologize. [ She smiles, but it's a little sad. ] You have to live your life. I get it.

[ Well she wasn't expecting that. ]

Actual ducks, or...?

[scholiast]

Thank you. (Still, she hopes she can make it up to Bill some how.)

No, no– just physical depictions of them. Stories about them. A friend of mine made it a wooden carving of a duck once, and it liked that very much.

[tutee]

Oh. [ That makes a little more sense, somehow. ] I don't have any stories about ducks, but I suppose I could write down some stories about my time with the Doctor for it. Do they have to be fictional?

--> audio; private

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco switches to audio, and also to private for good measure. It's a lot harder to hide tone when he is not texting, and he definitely doesn't sound as happy or as enthusiastic as Lucretia is probably used to hearing him. ]

I'll bring some stuff by later tonight. A well-rounded diet is good for nutrition, and all that. Where are you at, these days?

[ Which is a roundabout way to say that he knows she'd moved out of the house with Lup and Taako, and by implication, that he probably knows at least a little bit about what went down. Which will probably go a little ways to explaining the uncharacteristic coolness of his messages.

He should leave it there. He really shouldn't say any more. ]

That all you been feeding it?

[ ...or he could just let his paranoia flag fly free, consequences be damned. It isn't that he doesn't believe her, about the memory loss being temporary, but... he absolutely does not believe that weak-ass story for one second. Which means, if he's not mistaken, that Lucretia has the ability now to take away people's memories, whenever she sees fit, and there's no way any of them would know. Unless he drinks some of the ichor as a precaution. But she could do it to other people, unless every single person inoculated themselves. ]

[scholiast]

(She does notice that he doesn't sound as chipper as usual; usually, she'd be able to pass that off as something on his end bothering him, but his tone combined with the little hints dropped about her circumstances and Lucretia is immediately on edge. She'd forgotten, momentarily, about his friendship with Taako; a relationship that must run deeper than she's realised, if he knows she isn't living with the twins any more.

She clears her throat, and considers her next words carefully. Is he asking because he wants to come around and confront her? Lucretia isn't wary of him by any means, but she's tired. Sure, she possibly deserves whatever this will eventually be (that and Cisco is clearly sticking up for Taako, which is sweet of him), but if it's a conversation she doesn't have to have, she will avoid it. She has enough on her plate at the moment.)

Private apartment, (she supplies after a beat, and drags her pen across the page in a single, wavering line, distracted.

That all you been feeding it? Boom: there it is. Lucretia plucks her glasses off and presses the heel of her hand against her forehead hard, like she can iron out her headache.)

Yes. (Her tone is careful, neutral.) It's really the only thing I'm willing to supply it at this point. My notes are important, and I'm unwilling to give up any of my paintings.

[scholiast]

What kind of collections do you have?

(This whole 'getting food for Junior' thing is turning out to serve a double purpose because she gets a little peek into the creative pastimes of everybody who responds in kind. It's pretty good.

Junior is half-slumped against the side of her head, and keeps trying to put tendrils into her ear; Lucretia's shoulder hunches as she talks.)

Not personally, but I enjoy his work. I hadn't thought of trying film, though. Recommend anything in particular?