ataraxion | 001 ↓ [video]

[Larry is sitting cross-legged on his bed in his cabin, looking pretty bored. He tries to put on a grin that ends up looking more sheepish and clueless than anything, and takes one more moment of valuable transmission time to glance up at the ceiling, presumably in thought. Then he sighs, and faces his device. At least he is no longer panicking the way he was during his first few days on the ship.]

Um...hi, I guess. I'm Larry Butz, and one day I woke up in a tube with weird gunk that took forever to get out of my hair. Gum is worse, though.

[A pause. He wonders what else he should say.]

Thought I'd introduce myself since we'll be on this ship for a while. In space and all that.

...

By the way, I got a couple of questions. First, are there any art materials on board? I'm kinda bored. [As if that wasn't obvious from the fact that he has decided to lie back down, his eyes half-closing in a dazed expression.] And second, are the numbers on our arms supposed to mean something, or did we all get random ones while we were asleep?

[Because his reminds him of something. Something more than just an age, or a birthday, or any sort of date.]

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That's it? These numbers were given to us randomly?

Yeah, maybe? It's not that big of a deal, man, don't freak out.

Maybe not, but...my number means something. To me, anyway.

Mine does too, a little, but then if you really wanted to, everything means something special. What's yours mean?

Mine stands for an amount of money.

[He's not sure if he should continue the story and say it was the same amount he stole from one of his friends in fourth grade. Sure, he gave it back after fifteen years, and he only did it because he was feeling mischievous and not to steal, but...the last thing he wanted was to be mistaken for a thief. This person might not understand (or at least, remain tolerant) the way Larry's friends did.]

Is it a debt?

[ It could be many things. It could be a bounty. It could be a hospital debt. It could be his favorite amount of cash to have in pocket. It could literally be anything, man, help him out. ]

...Sorta. But I paid it!

[Better late than never. Technically, it WAS a debt. Unfortunately the person he paid will not remember that.]

Edited 2012-10-24 05:53 (UTC)

Uh huh.

[ Can you hear the disbelief in his voice, because he can maybe up it a little more. ]

You know what that means, right?

...what does it mean? I don't owe anyone anything anymore?

[That's a lot of "any"'s.]

It means you suck at borrowing things.

[ in his defence, it sounded wittier in his head. uh. ]

Anyway, we're in space. Unless you start really borrowing heavily from people and never giving things back, your debts from back home shouldn't matter too much. I think.

Okay, maybe I did back in fourth grade, but I'm better now! [Hopefully.]

And do we even need money on this thing? Pretty sure I still have my wallet...

Why are you even... fourth grade? You're digging that far back, dude, that's sad.

And ease up, you're fine. Pretty sure we don't need money as much as we need actual labor here. The ship's self-sustaining and all that, right?

I didn't dig for it, I...uh, took the money.

[...Dude.]

That wasn't what I meant with digging, you know that, right?

Also you just confessed to stealing on the network.

It...it wasn't stealing! [Larry, your voice just got a little louder.

So yes, he does tone it down.]

Okay, I took it, but I paid it back, like I said!

[ And at this Isaac can't help but laugh. ]

Man, relax. We're cool. I'll even forget about this whole "debt" thing if that's what you need me to calm down, seriously.

You're a funny guy, Butz.

[Good thing this is voice; Isaac won't be able to see Larry look a little embarrassed.]

O-Okay...my friend and I were cool back then, too. [Until now, when timey-wimey things happened.]

What's your name?

[ these two aren't going to be passingly acquainted for long, though, bet on it. ]

Isaac. It's Isaac Lahey, and it's cool to make your acquaintance, man.

Space horror aside, I mean.

[Larry can try. He can try.]

Nice to meet'cha too, Isaac. Even if...uh, I'd totally rather meet you on solid ground.

Space doesn't count as solid ground to you? That so?

Well...the floor is solid, but it's kinda hard to forget you're hurtling through deep space to who-knows-where...

And you just reminded me that we're in a floating death trap, so congratulations on the unneeded horror, man. You couldn't think of something happy?

S-sorry about that...I kinda wish this was only a thrill ride or a virtual reality thing...

Aw, man. Virtual reality would only be too good, you know? Like, we'd be in the Matrix and stuff, but that's gross too.

But the grossness wouldn't be real, right?

( voice )

abrahamic - 2012-12-27 18:29 (UTC) - Expand

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