ataraxion | 001 // voice.

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001 // voice.

[ A bit of silence, and the sound of someone clearing his throat.

Guess who finally decided to stop lurking? Thiiiis guy. ]

-- Can I say one thing, about the final frontier?

I thought it was supposed to be a little grander than this. [ THOUGHTFUL PAUSE. ] More lights, you know, and perhaps more windows in the ship so we could actually see things.

But as a measure of curiosity, show of hands, how many of us are just from good old Earth? Been to the moon and not much further, that sort of thing? Because an awful lot of you seem very at home on a bloody spaceship, and I'm feeling a little left out.

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[ He's also rather grody for Fischer, too. But he did say he was from spaaaaace and things like grooming have a tendency to fly out the window. In space. ]

Eight initial crew. Four remaining. [ A beat. ] Three present and accounted for on the Tranquility.

[ But there are no windows here, that was Eames' point to begin with!!

As far as he knows Fischer might've joined a grunge band or something before going off to be a space captain, alright. Eames is just wary, for now, pretty much eyeing every detail of Fischer's expressions, his mannerisms, his body language. They're all fairly different, none of them at all reminiscent of Fischer's personality.

But the resemblance is unmistakable. ]

I'm sorry for your losses.

Perhaps your fourth will turn up, eventually.

[ The only commonality is Capa's face and though he's a rather stoic individual, to a person like Eames the contours of his personality are clearer and more cleanly defined. He's straightforward and matter-of-fact and — as Eames can infer from the conversation — very much a 'scientist'. He expounds energy to convey fact, not opinion, and whatever feelings he may have on a subject, he keeps them to himself unless those feelings are relevant.

It's not repression, just efficiency. Bigger picture without being wholly bloodless. ]

They're not my losses. [ That would be too small-minded. Still, Capa remains matter-of-fact. ] They were humanity's. But arguably negligible.

[ Capa clears his throat. ] It's unclear whether or not there'll be another wave of displacement from the various continuums. None of the equipment seems to be malfunctioning from a diagnostic point of view.

[ Eames derives what he can about a person through asking questions, more from how they answer them than what they actually say. This man very clearly isn't Fischer, because, well, appearances be damned. He's nothing like him. Fischer is rich, spoiled, a little bit naive, too desiring of approval -- from his father. This man, whoever he is, is different. Stoic and efficient, almost painfully factual, with the air of someone who might've seen a little too much, and copes, all the same.

But this honestly goes far beyond plain old resemblance. Eames knows people, their personalities and their appearances, because how are you ever supposed to recreate something if you don't know all the details? And in everything physical, this man is Robert Fischer.

Fischer who looks like he's been through a little bit of hell, but Fischer nonetheless. ]

Then I'm sorry for humanity's losses. [ A pause. ] I take it that there was a very important reason there were eight of you on a shuttle to the sun.

[ Robert Capa is also sorry for humanities losses, though that detail isn't important. He is also sorry for his miscalculation, which resulted in said losses, but that's unimportant too. Sentiments are luxuries that the crew of the Icarus — what's left of it — cannot afford.

He'll have time for his guilt and regret when the mission is over, but not a moment before. And if the mission fails then no one will have time for anything.

A flicker of that shows on Capa's face for a moment. The bat of an eyelash, the beat before breathing. They're tells, given up by a man who has very few and that he gives them up at all should speak volumes. ]

The Icarus II is tasked with delivering a stellar payload. It's a bomb. Designed to reignite the sun.

Edited 2011-12-12 15:40 (UTC)

[ The smallest of flickers -- but enough for someone like Eames to notice, and enough for him to understand the weight and significance that comes with it.

And he may be useless and clueless in anything regarding spaceships, but he doesn't need a dictionary to understand reignite and what it implies.

His voice is sympathetic enough. ]

A grim future. Can't say I envy you.

[ And he does get the sense of the emotion behind Capa's words, behind his slight movements, but there's no need for Capa to know how much he can read, and even then, Eames can't quite comprehend the gravity of it.

It's not his issue, anyway. ]

Nice to know that humanity tries to find solutions to everything, still. Though -- Icarus is an interesting name, for such a project.

[ It certainly implies suicide. :| Or you know, not making it to the sun. ]

'Interesting' is a generous way of putting it. [ Capa's voice is far too even to approach rueful, but perhaps there is the desire to somewhere in his expression. If it is there, it's subtle, just like everything else. More tells, not hidden just understated because they don't deserve anything more than that. ] I think it was supposed to be their version of 'break a leg'. Only it didn't really work.

You never know.

[ It's hard to sound positive in the face of someone who was on a suicide mission, alright. ]

Who do you mean, when you say their?

[ AMERICAN THING? Russian thing? Global effort? Curiosity abounds. ]

[ It's okay, Capa doesn't need optimism, he needs pragmatism, and he's got plenty of his own. ]

If you're asking who got to slap their name on the hull of the ship, it was a global consortium made up of every pre-existing space agency we could get a hold of. It was spearheaded by NASA and Роскосмос and JAXA. And most of the crew were American.

But the ship was international property and its mission was a global mandate.

Good to know that the Earth would at least sort of band together for something.

[ God, you can't possibly be Fischer. How do you look so much like him. But who knows -- if you're deep enough down, it could change a man. ]

Were you all chosen, for the mission? Or trained specially for it?

[ Capa doesn't point out the fact that Earth didn't have a choice. It was either that or die. But it seems redundant, so he keeps it to himself. ]

We were. A survey was done of the leading experts in their respective fields. The ones that could viably be sent into space were put into training. From there it was a process of elimination.

[ Given the nature of humanity, Eames would honestly not be surprised if it found away to fuck itself in the ass even in the face of certain doom.

He pauses for a moment, to consider. ]

You must be quite the expert, then.

[ He is arguably the best astrophysicist his version of earth has to offer. ]

It was important for the crew to be self-sufficient. Once we reached the solar winds, we'd loose all satellite communication. Complete dead zone. [ A beat. Capa wonders if he should clarify. ] We couldn't rely on resources back on earth.

[ Which means the best of earth's resources already had to be there. ]

-- Which meant that you needed them on board with you. [ SEE, HE UNDERSTANDS, HE'S SMART. ] Of course.

What was your own specialty, then?

Astrophysics. I've a specialization in stellar formation, physical cosmology and antimatter. On Icarus II, it was my responsibility to oversee successful delivery of the payload.

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001 // voice.

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( voice ) this is where i vastly regret my lack of knowledge about sunshine.

( video ) oh god you should totally watch it. GRANTED I'M BIASED but still

( voice ) yeah i bumped it up on my to-watch list after seeing this cast

( voice ) eeeexcellent! you must share with the class what you think afterwards!

( voice ) /WORKS WAY THROUGH WATCH LIST!!

( voice ) /GO GO GO HUFF HUFF HUFF

( voice ) /SLAVES THROUGH

( voice ) o-oh my.

( voice ) imgoingtowatchittomorrow

( video ) <== I KEEP FORGETTING TO CHANGE THIS homgsoexciting!!!