[video] stuck in the middle with you

[coldhardy]

[Today, Elsa wears a long blue gown with a pale, diaphanous overlayer. She wants to be as much herself as possible, after days with other people. She's addressing the network very seriously, but her words are initially uncertain. As she continues to speak, she sounds more confident.]

Hello, everyone.

About six months ago, I didn't wake up after the jump. I missed a whole month, and I know I wasn't the only one. I had dreams during this time, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything about them.

I've been starting to remember things since the last jump. Everything that has happened since then... the way that girl Seraphim died and the things she said... it makes me think that what I remember might be important, if it wasn't just a dream.

I talked to Emily about it recently, but there's more now.

The trouble is, I'm pretty good with math, but I don't understand the technology here very well. It's not like anything we had at home. That might be important, too.

My dream was about a woman with thick black hair and a ruddy complexion. She wore her hair pulled back. She left the pods after a jump, and the lights were red, and everyone was lined up in formation. I don't think I've ever seen anyone who looked like her here.

A lot of things that happened after that are still coming back in bits and pieces. The thing that I remember now is... after some time passed, she went to the jump drive. It's the thing that helps the ship move, isn't it? It wasn't easy for her to get in, but I still don't understand why yet: the important thing is that she made it. And it wasn't what she expected to see, it was... there were things that should have been moving that were... frozen. Not as if they were in ice, but they were just hanging there in the air, kind of like lightning that never moved or ended.

[Her expression has grown increasingly troubled through the course of this narrative.]

It scared her.

Did anyone else see this? Even if you didn't... do you know what it means?

Comments

[circumitus]

[THE CLOCK HAS STOPPED no really what the fuck.]

...

You saw the jump drive? And it wasn't moving?

[She has sort of an idea on the picture Elsa is describing, but. Yeah. Her interest is piqued.]

[coldhardy]

[She thinks about it for a moment before answering. It seems important that she's careful about what she says here.]

The woman thought it was the jump drive. I think. Didn't she...?

It was a lot of machinery. A glass tube as big as a room, for one thing.

[circumitus]

[Interesting.]

And when she looked into the room, it looked as though time had just stopped moving?

[That's the image Rey has been illustrating in her mind, anyway.]

Do you remember what it was that she expected to see in there?

[coldhardy]

No. I only remember that she was frightened by what she did see. She thought it was bad.

Do you think it was time that had stopped? Is that possible, not a figure of speech?

[The jumps can last a month or a year, she knows, indeterminate amounts of time, and there's no way to be sure beforehand how long each one will take. Is that related? How?]

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi's expression is intense when his feed cuts in -- he's had a rough few days.]

Can you remember any of what she did to get at the jump drive?

[coldhardy]

Tadashi!

[It's nice to see him, and Rey: all the people she's met who had been trapped on the other side of the ship. She looks happy for a moment, but her expression becomes serious again.]

I can't remember much. I know she forced a door open. She had to use her hands... it was hard for her. It made her hands bleed.

[tadashiwashere]

[The intensity softens a little as he offers Elsa a lopsided smile -- it has been a while. And he's glad to see she's okay.]

I was hoping for maybe a code or an override sequence, but -- I guess it can't be that easy, right?

[His expression is rueful for a moment, but then he sighs and tries to push away the disappointment.]

How have you been holding up?

[coldhardy]

I'm all right, now that I'm not worried that any of us will miss the jump. Your brother is fine too, isn't he?

[Tadashi seems so nice!]

A code or an override sequence...? Something she'd have to say to get into the room. [She frowns, concentrating.] Why did she go into the room if she wasn't supposed to be there? Shouldn't her nanites have told the door to open?

voice.

[wiped]

I saw it. I saw the man who--I remember it. It took me a while, but I think I remember everything that happened.

[voice]

[coldhardy]

Really?

[This is good news!]

What do you remember!

[Maybe it will jog her memory, too! If not, maybe it'll fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle for everyone else.]

[wiped]

There was a woman, she--she hit that man in the face with her wrench before she could get inside, but after...after she got in and saw all the frozen parts. I remember waking up scared.

video;

[songburdened]

Elsa? I'm sorry; I haven't had any dreams like that... though, I remember a few others mentioning something similar; I can see if I can find their names for you.

[ beat ] And you look really beautiful.

[coldhardy]

[That compliment from her friend catches her: a tiny smile appears, and her cheeks turn pink.]

Thank you!

That could be really helpful, Elizabeth. They might remember more than I do. It's still coming back in pieces. I know the woman was afraid of things other than the jump drive.

[songburdened]

Do you know anything else about the woman? She isn't someone on board, is she? One that you may not have met, maybe...?

[ Elizabeth pauses, thinking. ]

I wish that I understood more about the mechanics of the ship.

[hirobotics]

[Don't mind Hiro's face kind of all lit up with curiosity and interest popping up here. Does he look a little familiar, maybe?]

Do you- remember anything else about what was in the jump drive room? Anything like, specific about the way it was put together, how things might've moved if they moved like they were supposed to?

[coldhardy]

[He looks familiar, all right, and she has a soft spot for younger siblings. When she returns his message, her expression has perked up a little.]

I can remember a big glass tube... a cylinder.

[She's not sure they could even have made something like that where she comes from -- that thick, flawless glass. They could make flawed glass, or something smaller, but something that big is rare.]

To be honest, I'm not completely sure it was the jump drive room, but something makes me think it might have been. I think... she had just seen a man who worked with the jump drive? That's right. But I can't remember anything else about him.

omg i thought i replied to this, i'm so sorry D:

[hirobotics]

A big glass cylinder... [Hiro wracks his brain for any bells that might ring. Why would there be a big glass cylinder on a machine that's built to use singularities to create wormholes that bent time and space? ...As soon as that thought crosses his mind, he really realizes how far out of his field of expertise this is.] Was there anything, like, inside the cylinder?

And the- the man-- Do you mean she'd seen him near the room right before she managed to get in? I thought nobody but the chief engineer worked with the jump drive.

text

[deservesadaisy]

[Ivan's reaction is a bit delayed:]

I had that one too. With the red lights. Or a similar one, at least, my memories of it have been... vague.

[coldhardy]

The red lights! Can you remember anything else? It was the same woman, wasn't it?

[deservesadaisy]

As far as I could tell. There's the scene you described and then she was hiding. In a closet, with a kitchen knife. I think it was later, though with a dream, I suppose it's hard to say.

[sorrycharles]

from time to time those of us who don’t wake up experience dreams from the perspective of the tranquility’s crew

[coldhardy]

I've heard about it before, but is it normal to have so much trouble remembering them? It's been bothering me for a long time.

video;

[bespectacle]

Hi-- hello. [The boy with the glasses settles into view, looking a little nervous, a little eager, sitting forward in his passenger quarters room.] I'm Harry.

This room the way you're describing it. With a cylinder and such. It doesn't sound much like 'the white room' people have mentioned before. Or wasn't it? White and shining light, and all?

[coldhardy]

[That gets a faint, slightly formal smile of greeting and acknowledgment.]

Harry.

[Then she's all business again. It's rare that she can really do much to help, outside of holding off things that want to hurt people, so she wants to do her best.]

I've been thinking about that. It didn't sound like the white room to me, either... it certainly wasn't the kind of light you'd see if you were surrounded by snow. The lightning was blue and yellow, and the stuff in the tube was blue. It was a machine. Is there supposed to be a silver and glass machine in the white room?

[bespectacle]

[Harry thinks about this for a moment, his forehead wrinkling visibly on the camera.] I can't say I know from personal experience, [he says at last.] But it doesn't sound right at all. I mean, I reckon people would've said 'shiny chrome room with blue-and-yellow lightning' if that's what they meant. There's lots of shiny chrome things aboard the Tranquility.

Maybe there are one of those mind-reading folks, who can compare the two images? [he asks.] I'd honestly thought they were the same thing.