i_speak_softly | Forty-Eighth Theory [Accidental Video/Action for Housemates]

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Forty-Eighth Theory [Accidental Video/Action for Housemates]

[It should be immediately obvious that Don didn't mean to turn his journal on, and isn't even aware that it is on. He isn't looking at it. He isn't saying anything. In fact, he might not be awake. He's just sitting slumped in a chair, his head on the desk-like counter before him.]

[If you look past Donatello to the background of the scene, you might be able to identify the setting as a subway car. A very strange subway car, though - it's stuffed with technology that might look futuristic even to someone from the same world and time as Don.]

[Do you quietly look away, Lucetians? Or do you intrude on the private moment?]

((Backdated to a little earlier this morning, thanks LJ.))

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[Don leans forward, looking inside with Robert.]

Watch your head.

[Careful. Robert twists to avoid smacking his skull off anything and carefully works himself inside the submarine.]

... What is this for, primarily, if I may ask? [He glances over the consoles, some of them evoking faint recognition from him. So very curious.]

[Don flips down and follows Robert into the cramped space, jammed as it is with consoles and equipment.]

Exploration. Mike and I had a pretty amazing adventure with it once.

What happened? [Robert's tone is curious, though he doesn't know if he should be asking things like this with Raphael's recent disappearance. He'd hate to make Don feel bad.

... Knowing him, it'll end up happening anyway, though.]

[This one didn't involve Raph, so Don doesn't mind talking about it.]

We were taken prisoner by an overgrown trash collector and destroyed an underwater city.

...

Are the two things related?

[Because those are the two most unrelated things Robert has ever heard of.]

And... why did you destroy a city? [Don, your life is mind-boggling to Robert.]

Well, it was his underwater city. He was sinking ships and using the salvage to expand his operation. [He examines a console idly, then continues:] We had met him once before. He was kidnapping homeless people and making them work as slaves on his junk island.

[... What. Yeah, Don, Robert doesn't know what even.]

... Your life sounds... even more fascinating than I thought it was.

[Just... junk island?]

What exactly was the point of that endeavour...?

He was trying to build some kind of empire of garbage. [He shakes his head.] I think something was wrong with him...

... Empire of garbage.

... That sounds... odd. Very odd. And... not exactly conducive to... much of anything.

[Then again, Terran garbage is relatively... rare in the first place.]

[Don just shrugs.]

That kind of thing happened to me a lot.

[Robert shuffles a little closer to Don. He's missed this, and it's a rare calm moment during this experiment.

If Don doesn't object, he'll rest his head against his plastron, listening to that familiar heartbeat.]

... Luceti isn't much different for you then, I suppose. In some ways, at least.

[Don slings an arm around Robert's shoulders, dipping his head to nuzzle his hair.]

It is and it isn't.

[The little scientist curls up closer to Don at this display of affection. It makes his chest ache with the feeling of being loved.

In a way, he almost wishes they were on Don's world. Never seeing Terra again would be bearable for Don's sake.]

For all the awful things that can happen here, sometimes it is wonderful.

... like right now. [Mostly because this is a moment of real happiness.]

[It would be, but for Don it's tainted with an ache he's trying desperately to ignore.]

Show me your pictures?

[Selfish. Robert has to remind himself Don's still troubled.]

... Certainly.

[He pulls the nanocomputer out of his well-protect lab coat pocket. Having been too frightened to put it down once during this mess, it's more often than not been there.

It only takes him a few moments to turn the nanocomputer on and begin bringing up holophotographs and holovideo - anything Robert could get during those moments where he wasn't being harassed, chased or otherwise threatened.

... In particular, the Randi Institute gets a lot of screentime.]

[Don watches the videos and slideshows with interest. Largely, though, his amazement is at the mere existence of these images. He reaches out to touch a projection of a building.]

A hologram of a hologram?

[Don's finger goes right through. Unlike the simulations in Luceti, these are just light.]

Three-dimensional imagery. But yes.

... Nowhere near as detailed as the simulations seem to be, though. And certainly these are only audiovisual. [There's no scent or taste to them either. Just light, and whatever sound was captured by the limited microphones.]

Fascinating.

[Don spins his finger around inside the projection. Will it cause the image to rotate?]

[It will, once it realizes what the motion is supposed to be doing. The modelling is extrapolated in areas Robert didn't photograph though, so it looks... off.]

Ah... were this an imagery-focused nanocomputer, it would be better at this. [Robert's tone is apologetic.] But bargaining for this alone was... difficult enough.

[This reminds Don of something April described to him once.]

[Turning the image back to its original orientation, he tries to figure out what kind of finger movement will cause it to zoom in.]

[A downwards motion, towards the screen of the nanocomputer, is sufficient. The zooming is... visibly grainy after a certain point, like a .jpeg enlarged too much. It makes Robert wince.

Yes, even with technology so far advanced, and even being used to Luceti technology, Robert still reacts negatively towards its failure to be a hundred percent perfect.]

I do wish I could have taken better-quality images...

... But this will do. At the least you can see what Terra is like...

... I still wish I could... could truly take you there to visit, even... even for awhile.

Edited 2011-08-05 06:35 (UTC)

[Don abruptly takes his hands from the projection, and looks up at Robert.]

Move in with us. Please.

[Sudden topic switch is sudden. Enough that Robert actually makes a little noise of surprise.

... But things have changed since their last conversation about this. The event, in particular, has proven that being alone is risky. If they had been capable of causing real damage, Robert would probably be dead.]

...

Are... are the others alright with this idea...?

I'll talk to them. But say yes first.

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