[ She just wants to ask a question it's fine! On her device, she tries to set one of the encryptions but ends up deciding that she doesn't trust it at all and just changes the nature of her question. ]
Actually I hate trying to use the locks and stuff. Are you busy wherever you are?
[ Severus is clearing his head, taking some time to write and toy with magic instead of forcing himself to work. He needs it, sometimes. Level 010 is increasingly empty - it's gone overlooked between everyone who moved to the lower levels and everyone who's stubbornly stayed in the higher ones. ]
[ It takes her upwards of twenty minutes but she manages to secure babysitting rights to... someone. Maybe Darcy. Who knows. But she does. The ride up to 010 is rather unfamiliar as she hasn't had overwhelming cause to come up here following Severus's reluctant appearances on her floor, and it's kind of a nice change of scenery. She knocks, when she arrives, though she's aware that she probably doesn't have to. It seems impolite not to. ]
[ If it counts for anything, Severus appreciates the knock. He's not used to this, and probably won't be for some time. (Or ever.) In fact he looks a little bit like he's fighting with the dregs of mild anxiety when the door opens, but he gets a handle on his mask quickly enough. ]
Hello. [ Severus nods and steps back; his room is kept cooler than the hallway, and dimly lit via a glass jar full of something emitting a nearly-white blue light set on a shelf. He must have magicked the shelf there - and the spare cot into a desk. There are a few jars about, a bottle of wine being used as a paperweight that doesn't look like it's been opened in months, a notebook, and.. little else. Also on the shelf is a fluffy green and grey scarf he's never been seen wearing. It's all very tidy. ]
[ Lucky for Claire, she's wearing a sweater, which has come to represent a large portion of her wardrobe since becoming a space cadet. As usual, it's a little bit too big for her, falling past her knuckles and hanging over the button and zipper of her pants, but if it bothers her, she doesn't show it any special consideration. Her hand - and the sweater, as a result - don't leave the frame of the door right away but curve around the edge so that she can lean in before actually coming in, taking a look around. The scarf is absolutely the first thing that catches her attention, never mind everything else. ]
Hi. [ Said as she swings herself around into the room from the hall by the hinge of her fingers. Her hair is pulled away from her face in a sloppy braid, so she doesn't have to shove it back or pick it out of her mouth when she steps up and presses her lips to the point of his jaw. ] Remind me to make you turn my extra bed into something more useful the next time you come down.
[ This is all very normal. Everything is normal. She has to remind herself periodically because she still sometimes manages to feel like she's going to throw up. ]
Oh. Okay. Severus blinks but relaxes, obviously having not expected that but not about to object. The door slides closed automatically behind her. ]
It's a work in progress. [ The desk. The back legs aren't the same as the front ones; two jumps ago it was a small sofa. He's occasionally indecisive. ] Is everything all right?
It's better than sci-fi dorm room decor. And more functional. If I got rid of the bed, I'd have more room for the dogs.
[ That's just being practical, never mind how much she envisions having a dresser with a mirror or something else that isn't metallic and gray. Or blue. She casts the lamp a look and decides that it's close enough to white for her tastes and doesn't even notice that the legs of the desk don't match perfectly. ]
What? [ Oh. ] Oh. Right. [ Down to business. ] I wanted to talk to you about the recon thing that's coming up. That Erik guy contacted me and said that it was highly encouraged everyone get medical exams before going out.
[ Also that you are running communications by yourself, and that kind of stresses her out a bit, because there is a chance things might go pear shaped and she knows how much it sucks to bear any feeling of responsibility for that. But mostly the idea of letting anyone examine her medically is freaking her out a little. ]
[ Having to talk about dogs is diverted by-- that. Severus nods, and motions for her to sit down wherever. There's a little chair and his impeccably made cot. (Practicing household spells. Sigh.) ]
We've spoken about it. I'm still not convinced it's the best idea to go out there, but I recommended you because I know you'd want to go. [ Well. ] Honestly, I don't know what a medical exam will do. William's found bugger all in the tests he's been conducting with everyone who came back.
[ Hopefully soon dogs will just be reduced to a couple of them rather than a few. It's still a lot, but she's making due as it is. As for sitting, she chooses to perch on the chair with her feet flat on the floor. ]
I guess having a control group is better than not having one. I don't know. Maybe he'll be able to find something to compare the tests he's already done to, if he's got our information before and after.
[ Not the crux of her reason for coming up here, but edging closer. In the meantime - ]
I appreciate you putting my name out there.. [ And she does, really. Most chances she's ever had to prove her mettle has been a result of her strong-arming her way to the front. It feels good to be recognized in some capacity. ] I don't know if I think we'll find something different from last time or just more trouble, but I feel like it's better to know. And be involved.
You don't have to go to medical. It's not a requirement. And it's not Erik's business if you've gone or not.
[ Severus understands the idea behind it, but science hasn't found anything. It's solved nothing. Which is not, of course, proof that it won't find something eventually, but it doesn't inspire much faith from someone already predisposed to being skeptical of it. ]
I hope you don't find anything. [ Plainly. ] If you do I'm going to stress the importance of noting what it is and bloody leaving. Don't go into any of those white doors.
He said it wasn't a requirement, just that it was strongly encouraged. Which kind of felt like it was a requirement without wanting to be totally authoritative about what I do with my medical records.
[ She also understands the reasoning behind it and why it would be a good idea even as someone whose vital stats have not changed since the tenth grade. But it makes her uncomfortable. The amount of people who know about her, about what her blood can do, is so minimal that just putting it out there for people she doesn't even know to reference is an idea that obviously is going to make her uncomfortable. She came up here to ask how weird it would be if she asked him to either vouch for her or if he was equipped to give her some kind of medical recommendation, so she's glad that she doesn't have to. ]
White doors. [ She nods. ] Check. Fully prepared to drag everyone away from anything that even remotely looks white. I don't feel like we're going to find anything different from what we've already found, either. If whatever force that drives this thing wanted us to find something, we probably would have found it already. But you never know. Maybe we can actually outsmart it for once.
[ Severus just doesn't care very much about the medical records idea. He could probably do Erik a solid and support it for him, and maybe he will with the others, but Claire obviously doesn't want to. So he's not going to encourage otherwise. ]
Going in there is what meddled with their memories and is continuing to cause problems for them. I'm sure of it. [ Just so we're clear on the white door thing. A phenomenon that has the power to completely control all of them. Don't go in the dang door. ] We're in its territory. [ and a concession, ] But it's important to continue to try and understand where we are.
[ White doors are bad. She has got this committed to memory. Though not for the first time she wonders what would happen if she actually did go in there. Would it affect her? Nothing else does. Not that she's going to, but still. ]
I want to continue and try to understand what it is. Just... all of the above. All of it. Sometimes I think about it and it is very frustrating.
[ Did you know that, Severus? Did you? Now you do. You're welcome. ]
I think we're on a ship that's trying to access other dimensions to steal resources and enslave races, or use the lot of it as fuel, and that us being here is a product of a malfunction with whatever mechanic is meant to be bringing the ship to other realities instead of bringing us here.
[ He says this completely seriously, but without much gravity. Just. Yep. That's his theory. ]
I suspect that if the jump driver ever functions the way it's meant to, we'll show up at someone's home planet and watch as an automated procedure demolishes it.
[ Well that's a lot better than her theory that it's just slowly trying to murder them all one at a time. Which isn't actually a substantial or legitimate theory and is just her way of compartmentalizing, in a sense. As a result, she's quiet a moment. Really, in all fairness, she hadn't expected a true answer. ]
How did you come to that conclusion?
[ Genuine interest. Claire leans back into the desk and crosses her arms and her legs. ]
[ Severus - who is sitting down opposite her idk if I remember to write that or not yeah awesome rping - exhales, a sort of sigh, implied shrugging. ]
I don't have a solid pattern of evidence. I just think it covers a variety of bases that otherwise seem unrelated or pointless. I could well be very wrong.
[ Claire concedes that point with a couple of raised eyebrows. ]
It's not exactly the worst theory that I've ever heard. [ She's quiet for a moment, her foot bobbing up and down in absent space. ] Hope it's not my planet.
[ She doesn't have to say that she agrees with him for it to be obvious that she does. No one wants to travel around on a giant murder ship. They probably want to travel around less on a giant murder ship of whole planets. ]
He was very...
[ She trails off, trying to find the right word. None of them really feel correct on her tongue when she tries them out, making vague shapes with her mouth. ]
He's dangerous. [ Shrug. ] But he cares more about defeating this place than anything else. I'd prefer to know he's working on something than worry about what he might be up to if things became too quiet.
[ Everyone here, to some degree, is dangerous. Severus obviously doesn't think it's that big of a deal. Because for now, it isn't. ]
I feel a bit better knowing you and Lily will be along.
[ Not knowing anything about Erik outside of the fact that he's apparently willing to take Severus on his word and is fond of texting, Claire is willing to take what Severus says at face value. Maybe she'll get first hand experience to back that opinion up now that they're going to be working together - not that she wants to - but in the meantime this will do. And he's right, besides: who here isn't dangerous? ]
We paired up when we went into the corridors the last time, with Maria. She's got a vested interest in puppies, too, so that makes her a good reference in my book. [ In all seriousness, though. Claire finds her a warm contrast to the overall glum of those missions, focused and capable. For a moment, she seems to mull over something, the approaches the topic carefully. ] You two were in school together, right?
[ Her tone of voice makes it expressly clear that is all she's aware of. ]
[ Severus doesn't answer right away. His expression is carefully blank.
After a moment, ]
We knew each other before school for a little while. [ He glances away briefly, that neutral expression holding. ] We were in different houses, we grew up and grew apart. She's very good a potionmaking, it's nice to have someone else here who knows what they're doing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
idk maybe i am looking 4u
Yes?
well in that case
Actually I hate trying to use the locks and stuff. Are you busy wherever you are?
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No, I'm in my quarters. I can go somewhere else if you prefer.
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[ Severus is clearing his head, taking some time to write and toy with magic instead of forcing himself to work. He needs it, sometimes. Level 010 is increasingly empty - it's gone overlooked between everyone who moved to the lower levels and everyone who's stubbornly stayed in the higher ones. ]
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Hello. [ Severus nods and steps back; his room is kept cooler than the hallway, and dimly lit via a glass jar full of something emitting a nearly-white blue light set on a shelf. He must have magicked the shelf there - and the spare cot into a desk. There are a few jars about, a bottle of wine being used as a paperweight that doesn't look like it's been opened in months, a notebook, and.. little else. Also on the shelf is a fluffy green and grey scarf he's never been seen wearing. It's all very tidy. ]
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Hi. [ Said as she swings herself around into the room from the hall by the hinge of her fingers. Her hair is pulled away from her face in a sloppy braid, so she doesn't have to shove it back or pick it out of her mouth when she steps up and presses her lips to the point of his jaw. ] Remind me to make you turn my extra bed into something more useful the next time you come down.
[ This is all very normal. Everything is normal. She has to remind herself periodically because she still sometimes manages to feel like she's going to throw up. ]
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Oh. Okay. Severus blinks but relaxes, obviously having not expected that but not about to object. The door slides closed automatically behind her. ]
It's a work in progress. [ The desk. The back legs aren't the same as the front ones; two jumps ago it was a small sofa. He's occasionally indecisive. ] Is everything all right?
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[ That's just being practical, never mind how much she envisions having a dresser with a mirror or something else that isn't metallic and gray. Or blue. She casts the lamp a look and decides that it's close enough to white for her tastes and doesn't even notice that the legs of the desk don't match perfectly. ]
What? [ Oh. ] Oh. Right. [ Down to business. ] I wanted to talk to you about the recon thing that's coming up. That Erik guy contacted me and said that it was highly encouraged everyone get medical exams before going out.
[ Also that you are running communications by yourself, and that kind of stresses her out a bit, because there is a chance things might go pear shaped and she knows how much it sucks to bear any feeling of responsibility for that. But mostly the idea of letting anyone examine her medically is freaking her out a little. ]
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We've spoken about it. I'm still not convinced it's the best idea to go out there, but I recommended you because I know you'd want to go. [ Well. ] Honestly, I don't know what a medical exam will do. William's found bugger all in the tests he's been conducting with everyone who came back.
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I guess having a control group is better than not having one. I don't know. Maybe he'll be able to find something to compare the tests he's already done to, if he's got our information before and after.
[ Not the crux of her reason for coming up here, but edging closer. In the meantime - ]
I appreciate you putting my name out there.. [ And she does, really. Most chances she's ever had to prove her mettle has been a result of her strong-arming her way to the front. It feels good to be recognized in some capacity. ] I don't know if I think we'll find something different from last time or just more trouble, but I feel like it's better to know. And be involved.
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[ Severus understands the idea behind it, but science hasn't found anything. It's solved nothing. Which is not, of course, proof that it won't find something eventually, but it doesn't inspire much faith from someone already predisposed to being skeptical of it. ]
I hope you don't find anything. [ Plainly. ] If you do I'm going to stress the importance of noting what it is and bloody leaving. Don't go into any of those white doors.
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[ She also understands the reasoning behind it and why it would be a good idea even as someone whose vital stats have not changed since the tenth grade. But it makes her uncomfortable. The amount of people who know about her, about what her blood can do, is so minimal that just putting it out there for people she doesn't even know to reference is an idea that obviously is going to make her uncomfortable. She came up here to ask how weird it would be if she asked him to either vouch for her or if he was equipped to give her some kind of medical recommendation, so she's glad that she doesn't have to. ]
White doors. [ She nods. ] Check. Fully prepared to drag everyone away from anything that even remotely looks white. I don't feel like we're going to find anything different from what we've already found, either. If whatever force that drives this thing wanted us to find something, we probably would have found it already. But you never know. Maybe we can actually outsmart it for once.
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Going in there is what meddled with their memories and is continuing to cause problems for them. I'm sure of it. [ Just so we're clear on the white door thing. A phenomenon that has the power to completely control all of them. Don't go in the dang door. ] We're in its territory. [ and a concession, ] But it's important to continue to try and understand where we are.
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I want to continue and try to understand what it is. Just... all of the above. All of it. Sometimes I think about it and it is very frustrating.
[ Did you know that, Severus? Did you? Now you do. You're welcome. ]
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[ He says this completely seriously, but without much gravity. Just. Yep. That's his theory. ]
I suspect that if the jump driver ever functions the way it's meant to, we'll show up at someone's home planet and watch as an automated procedure demolishes it.
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How did you come to that conclusion?
[ Genuine interest. Claire leans back into the desk and crosses her arms and her legs. ]
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I don't have a solid pattern of evidence. I just think it covers a variety of bases that otherwise seem unrelated or pointless. I could well be very wrong.
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It's not exactly the worst theory that I've ever heard. [ She's quiet for a moment, her foot bobbing up and down in absent space. ] Hope it's not my planet.
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[ Maybe. It could be worse. He decides not to say so; she's probably aware as he is. Severus leans with his elbows on his knees and shakes his head. ]
In any event. Erik is a weird bastard but he's effective.
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He was very...
[ She trails off, trying to find the right word. None of them really feel correct on her tongue when she tries them out, making vague shapes with her mouth. ]
Abrupt? Maybe?
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[ Everyone here, to some degree, is dangerous. Severus obviously doesn't think it's that big of a deal. Because for now, it isn't. ]
I feel a bit better knowing you and Lily will be along.
[ Sane people. ]
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We paired up when we went into the corridors the last time, with Maria. She's got a vested interest in puppies, too, so that makes her a good reference in my book. [ In all seriousness, though. Claire finds her a warm contrast to the overall glum of those missions, focused and capable. For a moment, she seems to mull over something, the approaches the topic carefully. ] You two were in school together, right?
[ Her tone of voice makes it expressly clear that is all she's aware of. ]
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After a moment, ]
We knew each other before school for a little while. [ He glances away briefly, that neutral expression holding. ] We were in different houses, we grew up and grew apart. She's very good a potionmaking, it's nice to have someone else here who knows what they're doing.
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