Sixty-Fifth Theory [Video]

[i_speak_softly]

[The video feed clicks on, and Don looks thoughtfully at the camera for a moment before speaking.]

Another Christmas in Luceti.

[His tone is direct, just stating a fact, but somewhere behind it is a note of melancholy.]

This is my third. All of them have been in this house. All of them have been with different people.

[He slides back from the journal, revealing a corner of his winter room. He's been gradually moving into it over the past week, and has more or less taken up residence now.]

I've seen a lot of people come and go. There probably aren't many left who remember when Luceti didn't have electricity.

[He picks up some small bit of tech and squints at it.]

When I arrived here, the drafts were just starting. There were no missions. The Battle Dome didn't exist. We didn't have a farm and there was a desert where the ocean is now.

[He carefully threads a length of wire through a hole in the tech part.]

The buildings were shorter. Some of the stores and restaurants weren't open. [A pause.] I think I'm forgetting things...

[The wire slides through, and he knots the loose ends to form a loop.]

Does anyone remember other things that have changed? Or, does anyone want a history lesson? I'll be here all day.

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

[This elicits the kind of smile that would have led to other things at a different time of year.]

I'll call you everything I can think of. You'll tell me if you don't like any of them, right?

[And he offers Robert another ornament.]

[semper_cogitans]

[This one is getting a special spot higher on the tree.]

... Of course. [Though don't expect him to reject too many of them, Don. Robert likes the things you call him, usually.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don gets up and moves to the next tree.]

Did you want to know more about Luceti history?

[semper_cogitans]

Ah... of course. [Though give him a moment to think of exactly what; history isn't his strong suit.]

... Do you... know of any other technologies used before electricity was... common?

[i_speak_softly]

Um. [He hangs an ornament as he thinks.] Candles. Iceboxes. Some things seemed to run more or less on magic.

[semper_cogitans]

[He wonders if they would've actually worked for him. Most magic-based implements seem to fail whenever he tries to use them.]

Did anybody... study them? Or was that... not particularly an option?

[i_speak_softly]

Not sure. I would have, if I'd lived with them longer.

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert wouldn't have been able to help it, really.]

Of course, there were... probably few ways to... properly investigate them, but I suppose it still could have been done in some fashion.