Roadtrip - Revision history

Joysweeper at 22:09, 24 May 2009

2009-05-24T22:09:42Z

Joysweeper at 02:25, 15 April 2009

2009-04-15T02:25:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:25, 14 April 2009
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	Anj listened with half an ear to the technobabble, reflecting that Outpost might well be the only place for SL-1984. When he went on a patrol things tended to get weird, and he made some of the people back at Base uncomfortable. One of the terms Anj had heard was ‘lobotomised’, but that was blatantly untrue. He just didn’t rage and posture. And he could back down without turning the action into something epic.		Anj listened with half an ear to the technobabble, reflecting that Outpost might well be the only place for SL-1984. When he went on a patrol things tended to get weird, and he made some of the people back at Base uncomfortable. One of the terms Anj had heard was ‘lobotomised’, but that was blatantly untrue. He just didn’t rage and posture. And he could back down without turning the action into something epic.

	SL-1984 had lost a hand and arm up past the elbow somewhere on that first day, and he had built a replacement at the first chance he got, which had turned out, possibly because of the Clothing Curse, to be basically perfect. Then he’d tried to build another and found the going much harder. Even so, ridiculous technical skills came with the costume, and even if it didn’t work as well and things had gone wrong from the start, it did work. He’d kept at it.

	There were rumors that the DEKA Research & Development Corporation, a small Earth company with numerous inventions, was courting him. So was The Open Prosthetics Project; something about transhumeral and biomechatronics. Once the uproar had hushed a little, a lot of companies had looked at Xanadu, remembered that genius had been quite a common trope in fiction, and seen credit symbols. Dollar signs. Whatever.		There were rumors that the DEKA Research & Development Corporation, a small Earth company with numerous inventions, was courting him. So was The Open Prosthetics Project; something about transhumeral and biomechatronics. Once the uproar had hushed a little, a lot of companies had looked at Xanadu, remembered that genius had been quite a common trope in fiction, and seen credit symbols. Dollar signs. Whatever.
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	“It’s all right,” Anj told him. He had to say it. He couldn’t complain about a Dark Lord of the Sith taking too long, even when said lord wasn’t dark or Sith anymore.		“It’s all right,” Anj told him. He had to say it. He couldn’t complain about a Dark Lord of the Sith taking too long, even when said lord wasn’t dark or Sith anymore.

	There was another pause. SL-1984 loomed, but it wasn’t his fault. He really couldn’t not loom.		There was another pause. SL-1984 loomed, but it wasn’t his fault. He really couldn’t ''not'' loom.

	“I hope I have not upset him too much. I may have to apologize later. My uncertainty was a lie. I knew that was a pain receptor.” The elastic on that part of the wrist was a little bit darkened and dimpled.		“I hope I have not upset him too much. I may have to apologize later. My uncertainty was a lie. I knew that was a pain receptor.” The elastic on that part of the wrist was a little bit darkened and dimpled.

	Awkwardly, Anj said, “Just give him a while to cool off. The worst he’ll do is call up a radio station to complain about you, my lo- sir.” ~~Damn his tongue! He’d managed not to say those~~ two ~~words for what~~, a ~~day and a half?~~		Awkwardly, Anj said, “Just give him a while to cool off. The worst he’ll do is call up a radio station to complain about you, my lo- sir.” Neither of the current two SLs at Outpost really liked being called 'my lord', given a choice.

	“Mmm. That’s small comfort.” SL-1984 pulled back a little, managing not to tower over the Red Guard. Very, very slowly he twitched his white cape to the side and settled onto a tall reinforced stool. “So you are leaving us.”		“Mmm. That’s small comfort.” SL-1984 pulled back a little, managing not to tower over the Red Guard. Very, very slowly he twitched his white cape to the side and settled onto a tall reinforced stool. “So you are leaving us.”
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	“I remember her. She was the good listener.”		“I remember her. She was the good listener.”

	“Yeah, that’s right, you knew her.” He cleared his throat uneasily. SL-1984 knew that Valerie was here now, and Anj knew he knew it. They were not going to meet. Valerie was only meeting ''one'' person who'd known her before the Event, and that person was Anj. “The hospice people said that ~~Maria doesn’t have long~~. I said my goodbyes back when she could still understand them, back in July. Still, I wouldn’t feel right missing the funeral.”		“Yeah, that’s right, you knew her.” He cleared his throat uneasily. SL-1984 knew that Valerie was here now, and Anj knew he knew it. They were not going to meet. Valerie was only meeting ''one'' person who'd known her before the Event, and that person was Anj. “The hospice people said that she'd been stable for the first couple months, but she's started the decline. I said my goodbyes back when she could still understand them, back in July. Still, I wouldn’t feel right missing the funeral.”

	Unlike Garrett, SL-1984 could produce a real sigh, although it was wildly out of synch with his respirator. “Sit down. Please.”		Unlike Garrett, SL-1984 could produce a real sigh, although it was wildly out of synch with his respirator. “Sit down. Please.”

	There were a lot of tall reinforced stools in the workshop, all of them pretty much identical. Anj picked one just far enough away that he didn’t feel disrespectful, and wondered where the Vader had gotten them from. Troopers got furnishings from just about anywhere - appropriated off of curbs, taken from their old homes if they were close enough, bought cheap if necessary. He had trouble seeing officers or SLs doing that.		There were a lot of tall reinforced stools in the workshop, all of them pretty much identical. Anj picked one just far enough away that he didn’t feel disrespectful, and wondered where the Vader had gotten them from. Troopers got furnishings from just about anywhere - appropriated off of curbs, taken from their old homes if they were close enough, bought cheap if necessary. That was why the dining room looked the way it did. He had trouble seeing officers or SLs doing that.

			"You must know that you will probably be poorly received," SL-1984 said slowly, leaning forwards and clasping his hands together, gloved one over bare. "You are not who you were. Perhaps you will remember that I, I met your father once, in passing. I believe he will carry on as if he does not know you. Others..."

			Carefully, he added, "They will be wary of you. Some will fear you. I know you have seen that before, and you think you are prepared. But these are people you knew, once. It will be... different. And you will be alone in this."

			"Understood." Anj frowned vaguely at the tiles on the floor. "But I have to do this. Not going - well, I'd regret it forever. And not going now would make it a lot easier to make an excuse next time," he said. "And there should be a next time."

			"I suppose you know what you're getting into. And you are a Red Guard, 1407. You're trained to work well even alone." The mask was immobile, but Anj felt the steadiness of SL-1984's gaze. "My fear is just that something unforeseeable will happen. You must comport yourself with an eye to your situation, and attempt to reflect well on - sorry, I let it get away from me." Some Vaders, slipping the self-control that they mastered as part of being in the 501st, let rage and scorn into their voices. This one spoke formally. "I mean, remember that you will be out there on your own, and besides the obvious this means that anything you do, you do as the single representative of the 501st. Possibly all of Xanadu."

			Anj blinked. "Do you think the trouble magnet will follow me?" The trouble magnet, held to be a trooper's superstition basically since the concept had come up, was just too reliable to be dismissed anymore. Like Murphy's Law, it was entirely speculative in nature. It tended to manifest as things - anything from a purse-snatching to a ritual intended to do something that involved rending the fabric of space and time - happening when there was someone close by who could do something about it. Basically any time a patrol left Base, it walked right into some form of action, no organized enemies needed.

			"I have no idea. We can hope that it won't, and overall you will be bored." The Vader's tone lightened slightly; his hands slipped apart and he stopped leaning forwards so intently. "If something does happen, try not to kill anyone. It makes us look bad."

			"Understood." The Red Guard smiled. "I'll keep everything on stun setting. Oh, and I might as well say this now - Revan's leaving for good."

			"I know. Oh, don't look surprised, I have my sources."

			"Does that mean he told you, or someone else?" Anj was a little annoyed, and said so. "I mean, I was away for literally overnight, and I find that he's preparing to go."

			"Preparing, yes, in the sense that he has made the initial decision and started to learn a new language. He has been thinking about this for as long as I have known him. And I told you, I have my sources. You're not hearing about this late. Most of Outpost doesn't know yet."

	"~~You must know that you will probably be poorly received,~~" SL-1984 ~~said slowly~~. "~~You are not who you were. Perhaps you will remember that I, I met your father once, in passing.~~ I ~~believe he will carry on as if he does not know you~~."		"All right." Anj checked the time and winced. Waiting for SL-1984 to run that test had eaten up a lot of time. "I should get back before they miss me."

	"~~Understood~~. ~~But~~ I have to ~~do this~~.		"Just a moment more. Don't stand." SL-1984 rose slowly and strode over to loom over Anj, who shifted in place. "Let me see your hand, either one. Hah. Sometimes I wonder what order I'd have to give to make you hesitate." Very slowly and deliberately, SL-1984 examined Anj's hand with one gloved and one bared prosthesis, only letting the tips of his fingers contact the Red Guard's skin. They were cold and a little sharp, like blunted metal claws. After a moment he let go and stepped back. "All right. Sorry, it's been some time since I had a chance to see a real arm. I wanted to be certain that I hadn't forgotten."

			"There are four different muscles in the ball of your thumb. At least eight bones move together in your wrist. If you move it at all, you're using a range of muscles that start in your forearm. If you tilt it and move your thumb, that's ten different muscles and at least six bones working there. That's what I'm trying to make. I started off trying to do it one-handed." Making a fist with the bared prosthesis, he released it. "The replacement worked as well as I could have hoped. Unfortunately subsequent efforts have not worked as well. At times it is frustrating. But the work is challenging, and rewarding, and there is a net benefit at the end, so I will continue."

			After a pause, Anj said, "Well, you've made a lot of progress, as far as I can tell." He tended to come down to the workshop every few days and had heard most of this before.

			"I suppose I should wish you well - oh, there is a favor I wanted to ask you. You remember where I used to live, correct? I would like you to stop there on the way back. Do you have a datapad? You need one." Reaching to one side of his control box, he brought out something roughly the size of a CD case, removed a datacard from one of the slots, and inserted a different one. Starting to push it towards the Red Guard, SL-1984 reconsidered, pulled back, and said, "Hold on, I should update it," before turning, white cape flagging, and heading over to one of the workbenches.

			Anj considered refusing the favor for about half a second, knowing he could probably get away with it, but the white Vader was still a friend, even if conversations tended to peter out.

			A moment later SL-1984 was back, the datapad he held now featuring a recharge plug.


	Give me your hand. Hah. Sometimes I wonder what order I'd have to give to make you hesitate. All right. There are four different muscles in the ball of your thumb. At least eight bones move together in your wrist. If you move it at all, you're using all these muscles that start in your forearm. If you tilt it and move your thumb, that's ten different muscles and at least six bones working there. That's what I'm trying to make. I started off trying to do it one-handed.
	~~There was a time when I didn't think I could do it at all. All in all, I'm doing quite well.~~

	~~SL-1984 examined Anj's hand with both bared prosthetics, only letting the tips on his fingers contact the Red Guard's skin. They were cold and a little sharp, like blunted metal claws.~~

Joysweeper at 05:26, 7 April 2009

2009-04-07T05:26:03Z

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Joysweeper: There's so much lag between typing and watching letters appear on the screen.

2009-03-07T06:28:57Z

There's so much lag between typing and watching letters appear on the screen.

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 "Threats?  Here?"  'Here' was a well-lit Goodwill with maybe half a dozen other people, most of them watching the two strangers surreptitiously.  This town had fewer than a million citizens, looked from what she'd seen like the kind of quiet place that kids couldn't wait to move out of, and last but not least was a few hundred miles north of Xanadu and all the people in it.  And it was raining, even.  Hadn't she read that street crime went down when it rained?  ...Okay, admittedly she'd read that in a Discworld novel, and they didn't necessarily reflect the real world.  Even so.
-Anj crossed his arms over his chest and told her,  "Threats can be anywhere.  I can't let my guard down."  He let both arms fall back to his sides.  "It's just a Red Guard thing.  I - look, I have to do it.  And besides, anything could happen.  It's complicated.  Look, I'll try to explain later."
+Anj crossed his arms over his chest and told her,  "Threats can be anywhere.  I can't let my guard down."  He let both arms fall back to his sides.  "It's just a Red Guard thing.  I - look, I have to do it.  And besides, we might have a low profile but anything could happen.  It's complicated.  Look, I'll try to explain later."
 "I'll take you up on that," Valerie said, and stood aloof as Anj worked through a rack of extra-long coats, most of them trenchcoats or similar.  She didn't know why he'd picked this section, honestly.  There were heavier ones all over.  He probably could have gone with a zip-up sweater.  From what she'd heard there had been some snow and below-freezing temperatures, but it hadn't dipped below zero yet, and it wasn't like they were going to be hanging around outside.
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 Coming back, trying to remember if Goodwill had a policy of washing things before putting them up for sale, Valerie heard Anj, dismayed, say, "Uh-oh."

Joysweeper at 22:45, 5 March 2009

2009-03-05T22:45:04Z

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 His Obligatory Call had worked out pretty typically, Anj had concluded.  He'd called, getting his sister, and explained that it really was him, staying as level-voiced as he could, and he'd told her what had happened.  Just the facts.  She'd had some trouble believing that he was - or had been - her older sister.  Anj had convinced her, mostly by talking about what was in the sketchbook he'd left back at her place.  It had been uncomfortable on both sides.
-So why was he even thinking about calling again?  He couldn't seem to figure it out.
+So why was he even thinking about calling again?  He couldn't seem to figure it out.  There was this feeling, like he would miss something big.
 But it just wouldn't be right to leave it as it was.  So what if most people had settled for the one call?  He could understand why.  So much was different, and the connections between family members were thinner and more tentative.  He didn't want to leave it like that.  It wasn't right.
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 “’Fuel-efficient economy’, remember?  I’m fine.”

Joysweeper: Note to self: stop watching Avatar, it's skewing the characters.

2009-02-03T16:35:20Z

Note to self: stop watching Avatar, it's skewing the characters.

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Joysweeper at 05:53, 25 January 2009

2009-01-25T05:53:11Z

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Joysweeper at 06:01, 19 January 2009

2009-01-19T06:01:10Z

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Joysweeper at 02:40, 11 January 2009

2009-01-11T02:40:05Z

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Joysweeper at 05:27, 7 January 2009

2009-01-07T05:27:48Z

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 Anj stared at the cell phone in his hands.
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 He could wait for hours, if need be, at rest, equally poised to move or hold position.  But he wasn’t left standing for too long.  From the curb where he stood, there was a very good view of the road.  He saw Valerie’s little blue two-seater car and the baseball-shaped antenna-topper well before it got into the empty lot.  Recognizing it caused a little lurch in his stomach, and Anj realized that he was feeling anxious.
-It was stupid to feel nervous.  More than once he’d been called to pitch in when a fight was threatening.  Twice when creatures had escaped from the Twin Hills facility he had volunteered to roam in teams looking, even though he’d been aware that a manticore could take him down easily, forcepike or no.  Training might account for that near-fearlessness, and maybe it was why he didn’t really have trouble talking to people, either.
+It was stupid to feel nervous.  More than once he’d been called to pitch in when a fight was threatening.  Like the rest of Outpost he'd volunteered both times when creatures had escaped from the Twin Hills facility to roam in teams looking, and although he thought his team could have taken the bear, the manticore wasn't nearly as sure a bet.  Training might account for that near-fearlessness, and maybe it was why he didn’t really have trouble talking to people, either.
 Anj wasn’t one of Xanadu’s public relations people – he had the right look, yes, but he tended to garble longer statements, and now and again an Imperial streak showed up that made people nervous.  There was also the fact that, as a Red Guard, he had a bit of an aversion to drawing attention to himself.  Still, he’d said a few things on camera, both live and for recordings, and he had been delivering oral reports since evening of that day.  In fact, he had only just walked out of one.  He had no trouble with that sort of thing.
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 “I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t get into this.  And if I did, would it make me look fat?  I ''have'' gained weight, you know.”  Anj let his eyebrow drop and smiled as Valerie leaned against the car, shoulders shaking.  Hopefully she’d decided to neither fear nor be attracted to him.  It would make the trip a lot easier, let alone when they actually got there.
-Giving the dress another look, he said, “I know I said everything, and you ''did'' ask if I meant ‘''everything'' everything’.  I didn't even know I still had this.  Um.  Well, next time someone gives an oral report they can take these to donate.  There’s sort of a communal pile over there at Xanadu.  Not a lot of people brought more than a couple changes of clothes, and stuff that doesn’t fit anymore goes to someone else.  It works okay.  That’s how I got this,” he said, glancing down at his button-up long sleeved business shirt and slightly oversized cargo pants, held up by a belt.  Not entirely professional, and this outfit got hot quickly, but he was off duty now – and these clothes didn’t really restrict his movements much more than the robes.  They were also nearly as good at concealing weaponry.  She didn't need to know that.  “I’m really lucky one of my new, uh, friends used to wear this exact shoe size.”  He didn’t tell her how many times he’d washed the lining and scrubbed the things.  She didn’t need to know ''that'', either.
+Giving the dress another look, he said, “I know I said everything, and you ''did'' ask if I meant ‘''everything'' everything’.  I didn't even know I still had this.  Um.  Well, next time someone gives an oral report they can take these to donate.  There’s sort of a communal pile over there at Xanadu.  Not a lot of people brought more than a couple changes of clothes, and stuff that doesn’t fit anymore goes to someone else.  It works okay.  That’s how I got this,” he said, glancing down at his button-up long sleeved business shirt, the cuffs kept undone, and slightly oversized cargo pants, held up by a belt.  Not entirely professional, and this outfit got hot quickly, but he was off duty now – and these clothes didn’t really restrict his movements much more than the robes.  They were also nearly as good at concealing weaponry.  She didn't need to know that.  “I’m really lucky one of my new, uh, friends used to wear this exact shoe size.”  He didn’t tell her how many times he’d washed the lining and scrubbed the things.  She didn’t need to know ''that'', either.
 As he started refolding the dress into a mathematically perfect rectangle, Valerie recovered enough to ask, “Don’t clothes just change if they don’t fit?  I heard something about that on the radio yesterday.”
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 Still not openly staring, Anj glanced over Isaac’s narrow waist, flaring hips, long neck, and four breasts, each perfectly, unnaturally round.  Having gone back to Xanadu several times, he’d seen enough not to stare, but he could see why Valerie might.  “Furry, remember?  There are some Pokemon furries.”  He went on, keeping his voice casual.
-”Outpost was a warehouse complex or something before they handed it over to us.  We’ve got pest problems.  Lots of little animals have gone and crawled into the walls to die, and the roaches were pretty bad.  And rats.  Don’t get me started on the rats.  It was pretty much unlivable.”  This was no exaggeration.  Naturally, SL-1984 had not moved in and started enacting plans until ''after'' the cleanup, avoiding that mess.  “Isaac was an exterminator.  Still is, really.  We’re lucky we found her.  Isaac’s been here for over two weeks, and it’s just about civilized now.”
+”Outpost was a warehouse complex or something before they handed it over to us.  We’ve got pest problems.  Lots of little animals have gone and crawled into the walls to die, and the roaches were pretty bad.  And rats.  Don’t get me started on the rats.  It was pretty much unlivable.”  This was no exaggeration.  Naturally, SL-1984 had not moved in and started enacting plans until ''after'' the cleanup, avoiding that mess.  “Isaac was an exterminator.  Still is, really.  We’re lucky we found her.  Isaac’s been here for over three weeks, and it’s just about civilized now.”
 Across the lot, Isaac’s split tail swished.  Anj considered mentioning that she had finished the job over a week ago, with the assistance of most of the troopers.  Oh, she still sprayed pesticides now and again, and was sometimes seen putting out traps, but everyone knew she was done.  Now she made herself useful in a number of other ways, mostly doing the same work troopers assigned to Outpost did – KP, cleaning, laundry, moving heavy items, fetching things for superiors.  Off duty, she tended to stay close to them.  Isaac hadn’t quite gotten to the point where she would sleep in the barracks and complain with them about this or that, but it was only a matter of time.
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 Bored, Anj fidgeted, then did a bunch of toe-rising exercises while they talked about this and that.  Residual guilt aside, he didn't find Garrett very interesting.  It might have been different if he was on the walker's crew, which he was qualified for, certainly.  Or it might not have.