ataraxion | One || Video

Entry tags:

One || Video

[Rhys shows up on-camera, his brows furrowed slightly at the communications device. You're probably gonna notice pretty quickly that there's a mechanical port on the side of his head, and the corresponding eye is a bright, unnatural blue. And, of course, that he's sporting a yellow mechanical arm in place of an actual biological one.

But hey, nobody's perfect. Without much further ado, he turns the phone over so the camera is facing the floor, and there's definitely the sound of some buttons being pressed, some tampering that sounds like he's attempting to remove the back panel.]

Oh, for the love of- [The phone drops to the floor, the screen going dark. Rhys picks it up a minute later, flipping it back over so the camera is facing him again.] What kind of backwards tech is this? You have the technology to teleport us to different realities and you decide to give us an outdated ECHO recorder that my grandma could have built?

Look, is anyone on this junkheap versed with the network systems you've got going here? 'cause I've got the same functions in my arm and that's way more convenient for me. I've been trying to access it directly, but it'll probably take me awhile. If anyone knows how to cut corners, you know, now's the time to be helpful.

Also, hey. I'm Rhys: hero from Hyperion, new arrival, good with technology. [A pause, and then-] ...and if any of you are from Pandora, then you should know that I'm a totally laidback and innocent guy, and I didn't do it.

[[ooc: Forgot to post this earlier, but here is Rhys' Permissions post!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He wants to continue to push it- that if this is real then how is that more real, or if that's more real then how can this also be real, but... Rhys is pretty sure that he wants to avoid the headache it'll cause. Instead, he just looks at her arm when she exposes it, eyebrow slightly raised.]

Looks like you went swimming in razor blades. Not exactly my first choice in hobby, but eh- to each their own.

[sophie has an easy answer to that, but rhys didn't ask. Instead she gives a bitter little chuckle.]

I had--and have again, but that's beside the point--a fingerbone of particular value to one of my brothers, and the easiest way to get it back and prevent me from breaking it was to remove all of the fingerbones in or on my person. He was kind enough to return them later.

[the kind of calm in her tone suggests that this is not the worst thing that's ever happened, though it's a bit too soon to look at it with any real humor.]

Edited (That extra] was going to bug me forever. ) 2015-03-20 02:06 (UTC)

Uh.

[He just. Is going to scoot away from her a little.]

...okay.

[she looks almost hurt by that, but it passes so quickly it would be easy to miss.]

...you live in a very safe world, don't you.

[Rhys kind of laughs at that. Well- no, there's no kind of about it. He's laughing.]

Haha, no, but we don't do binding contracts with fingerbones. I mean, a little blood on the paper here and there, sure, but the less fingers you have, the less fingers can pull triggers on guns.

[He catches his breath, lifting two of his chair legs up with his toes pressed against the ground.]

Triggers are pretty important. So are airlock controls.

Oh, it wasn't a contract. It was far more important than a contract. A piece of paper would have little meaning amongst my siblings.

[she doesn't explain further, but she does pause, head tilting the other way in another quizzical look.]

All right, what exactly is a gun? I know it's a weapon, but of what sort?

['What is a gun,' she asks the guy who works for the leading weapons company in the universe. Rhys almost hits his forehead against the table right there. But no, new and creepy friends, he's going to work with this.]

A gun. Well. It's like- uh, a modern bow and arrow. Except instead of needing both arms to shoot, you just aim it at someone- [He definitely makes a finger gun with his mechanical arm, pointing it toward her and crooking his thumb like he's firing.] -flex your finger a little on the trigger, and then pow. Metal bullet, the size of a quarter, going through their skull at fifteen hundred miles per hour. All you have to do is make sure you aim toward their general direction and move your finger like, half an inch.

So, in my universe, finger bones: important.

[she copies the movement, slower than he is, but boy does she have the sighting bit down.]

So it's a machine that shoots metal through people very quickly to kill them from far away? Or at least make holes in them. [she looks thoughtful.] Interesting. Something to look into, I suppose. I would prefer people not attempt to make holes in me.

Pretty much, yep. It's what made my company rich. Hyperion invented these stabilizers that makes your gun accurate the longer you fire it. Awesome, right?

[Actually, completely useless if you want to use anything but an SMG, but at least they make automatic shotguns too. Rhys mulls that over for a moment, as if he actually knows how to use a weapon, before resting his elbows back on the table.]

Don't worry, the feeling's mutual. You wouldn't not believe how many times I've been shot at in the twenty-four hours before coming here.

It would be quite helpful if you didn't know how to aim, yes. As long as you had a lot of...bullets, you said they were called?

[don't even try to explain an smg to sophie. not worth it.]

And yet you appear to be completely free of holes, so that's not entirely terrible. [take it from the girl with the big stabby scar through her middle.] Is that usual, or were you having a particularly exciting day?

[Or shotguns. But Rhys sighs, yes they're bullets, but doesn't bother explaining further.]

Bit of both. Actually- no, none of the former. Not usual. I went down to a planet that's basically hell incarnate to... well, to, uh, do something important. Everyone on that planet hates Hyperion. Everyone on that planet also has easy access to guns, no mental health facilities, and a lot of free time on their hands.

Edited 2015-03-20 04:41 (UTC)

I'm not sure if they bother with bullets in hell...

[oh come on, sophie, keep track of the actual matter at hand.]

So you went down to a planet full of people who sound like bandits and would hate you on sight without any ability to defend yourself at all to do something important? That...

...that sounds like it could have been thought through a little better.

Well- I- uh...

[Rhys dips his head, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly.]

-I had a Loader Bot that I could deploy... and I was only supposed to be down there for like, an hour, max. [A pause, and then he adds-] -and I was really pissed.

[there's a long moment where she's quiet, looking at him. of course she has no idea what a loader bot is, but obviously he thinks it's important. it's not a gun, though, since you shoot those and don't deploy them.

after said long moment, she smiles. she'd had a feeling. this kind of confirms it. for all the attitude and posturing, this guy is kind of hopeless, and that's kind of cute. not particularly helpful, but cute. and he understands this sort of world much better than she does, at least on all the levels that have to do with things powered by electricity.]

What were you angry about?

[The silence is kind of unnerving at first, but then she smiles and he's really confused. Still, whatever just happened, it seemed like Sophie has made up her mind on something, and the ease of the expression helps Rhys to relax a little.]

Someone screwed me, big time. As in, 'murdered someone who made me promises and took their place just to treat me like shit' kind of screwing. [It still makes him just burn to think about it. He glances off toward the drinks on the bar and stands to pour himself a glass.]

I worked too hard for that to happen to me and my friends.

[now that, that's something sophie can understand. murder and plotting and backstabbing, this is familiar ground. she stands as well, to inspect the bottles on the bar. it is very obvious she knows zip about alcohol. possibly he should pick her something.]

A very good reason to be angry. Your simple revenge got a bit complicated, I take it.

The understatement of the century.

[Rhys isn't familiar with the bottles- none of the brands look familiar, but he finds one marked gin anyway (we are deeply sorry that the boy doesn't have better taste, but what can you do) and clinks two of the glasses together. Some more digging finds the ice bin, which looks half slushed by now, but he bears with it anyway, explaining as he starts to make two glasses of gin and tonic.]

He made an under-the-table deal and I caught him on it. [A pause, and Rhys glances back toward her with a wry smile-] -and instead of turning him in, I went down to Pandora to make the deal instead of him.

[Rhys shrugs, finding the soda gun and spritzing both glasses.]

Then everything went to hell in a handbasket. You okay with gin? Dunno if I can find any limes here that would pass health inspection, sorry.

I have a tendency to do that.

[understate, she means. she watches him look over the bottles and then start concocting the drinks with the same sort of curiosity that she watches him do things to his arm.]

I've never had gin. I'm sure it's fine. [she gives him a bit of a glance.] I can't fault your concept, as I assume that it would have brought about this person's downfall. Somehow I doubt he was pleased with you, though. So you have your 'hell' [she doesn't do air quotes, but they're there in her voice] planet inhabitants, and this person after you, without any combat abilities. That does sound like a bad day. But you've survived thus far.

As far as you know.

[Rhys breaks out into a grin though and he shakes his head, sliding one of the glasses toward her.]

Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm alive. Stole ten million dollars from Hyperion to trade for a fake antique, which shattered. Tracked down the money, had to compete in a death race, the money blew up, Hyperion found out. [He takes a deep swig, before a little. It's- it's been awhile since he's had a drink, okay?]

So as of my entrance onto this magic ship, I'm down ten million dollars, a vault key, any chance I had at getting back to Helios, and a portion of my sanity. [A pause. He looks toward her and then to her glass, as if what she said has only just now sunk in.]

Wait, you're old enough to drink, right? 'cause I'll take both of these- don't think that I won't.

[she makes an amused little sound and takes the glass, though she waits for him to drink before she does. her sip is much more moderate, and she's not quite sure what to think of either the flavor or the bubbles, but it goes down easier than some of her father's horrid herbal remedies. much easier, actually, and she takes another sip as he gives her the extremely abbreviated version of his time on pandora.]

A portion of your sanity?

[then his question sinks in, and she outright laughs. it's a bit rusty, she hasn't done it in awhile.]

I've been marriageable age for half my life, Rhys. I think I am old enough for a drink.

[a pause, because she's suddenly unsure if his world even has marriage. mostly they seem to have bandits, politics, and incredibly boring sounding work, as far as she can tell.]

I'm twenty-six.

[He pulls a face.]

Please don't tell me you got married at thirteen. That is so- beyond stone-age awful.

[THERE IS MARRIAGE ON PANDORA, just, there's a lot more guns. Also who's avoiding the question, not Rhys, Rhys never avoids anything.]

On second thought, they probably don't even have drinking ages where you're from. [On second thought, do they have drinking ages on Pandora? It's probably like, 6 lbr.]

[she shakes her head, gesturing vaguely with her drink.]

I'm unmarried. I was never much for being a proper lady, and improper ladies don't command good dowries. Besides, my father couldn't be bothered after the two eldest put up a fuss. Having suitors cluttering up the castle made him cranky. ...more cranky.

[plus, the marriage market for soulless girls kinda sucks.]

But really, a portion of your sanity? I can see it being an...adjustment, but you don't really seem mad.

[one proooobably should not judge their sanity levels by sophie's standards, all things considered.]

Well, good for them. If someone tried to marry me at thirteen- well. [Rhys considers that for a moment, before shivering. Does anybody remember their pre-teen years with fondness?]

And thanks. Being down there with all the other crazies starts, uh- getting to you after awhile, you know?

[No, she probably doesn't, because Rhys is starting to realize that he's being a little too free with information. Sure, this chick is some shapeshifting torture doll, but she's still one of the few people he's got here. Explaining the whole Jack thing would probably not be to anyone's benefit right now.

'Aw, are you ashamed of me? That's cute. It's gonna come out sooner or later, you know. That you're a- how do I put this kindly?- a piss-for-brain with a few screws short of a hardware store.'

Rhys closes his eyes and takes another deep drink. He doesn't cough nearly as much this time when it goes down.]

Castles, though. So like, seriously stone age stuff, right?

It would have been a fiasco? [that seems to amuse her.] I was all bruises and muddy dresses at thirteen, hardly wife material. [then her expression sobers just a touch, not enough to quite lose all of its humor.] I have some idea about madness, perhaps.

[she watches him, the subtle waver in his words, the way his head tilts slightly to one side before he closes his eyes and takes a gulp of his drink. he's hiding something, but who is she to press about hiding things? still, her eyes are intent, studying him. the difference between this and all the other times he's been measured up is that there's no smarmyness about it, only curiosity.]

Not really. We were hardly living in a cave speaking in grunts. [not that her way of talking doesn't emphasize that rather clearly or anything.] All ages are modern to those born into them, after all. I often lived out in the woods, but that was by choice.

At thirteen, I was president of my own Future Business Leaders club. [Rhys shakes his head, but he can't help smiling at the memory.] I did not make good business choices at that age. Ended my fiscal year in so much imaginary debt...

[He's avoiding her gaze now, but finds himself curious when she talks about her time. Strange, really.]

Can't imagine it'd be fun, either way. You know... I don't think I've ever actually been in a forest. Most of Pandora is desert and mountain, and Helios isn't exactly brimming over with nature.

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action