[IC] To Live ... [2]: Last Night I Went To Manderley Again

[EpicEclipse]

INQUISITOR (Victoria Riese)
1 :HP ο COND: Healthy

The blonde woman gives Billie a "Is that seriously a major concern right now?" look but says nothing, because if you can't say something nice, don't say anything, before looking back to listen to the doctor. "In the event this isn't one massive madness hallucination or near-death fantasy my brain is making up, I'll probably be needing my medication sooner than later...I assume that's what 'chemical assistance' means?"

[Flynnarrel]

Freebird

The doctor blinks, walks over to Billie's bed, and looks at the tablet. "That is indeed what it says, and the negative balance is equal to what we charge for the process," she confirms after a moment. Apparently, you had no funds when you died."

"Except that's crap!"

"Please calm down," says Emiri, taking a step back from Billie.

Also recalling the problems with Jack, Marcus hops off his bed, then regrets that decision. "Woa, woa, Hey there! What if you take enough from my account to cover Billie's procedure and then split the rest for both they and I to live in our own Basic accommodations? How long of a Basic living would we get? I mean, I've been a starving artist before, and when I worked with the Resistance I kinda took for granted the basics of survival they scrounged for me. I have no problem getting back to my roots." Marcus offers.

[Davies]

"What is the life expectancy of these clone bodies?" [Binary] asks.

"Roughly one hundred twenty years, though that is purely theoretical as we have only been producing them for thirty," Emiri answers.

"What about my devices? You mentioned one, presumably the mask, was 'damaged'. When or with whom can I discuss that?"

She nods. "I will be taking all of you to pick up your personal items when you are all on your feet, as well as getting you some clothes to replace those gowns."

(ooc: Is there anything else on the tablet besides the figure? Jaina would attempt to see what else the tablet can do.)

The only sections of the display that demonstrate any interactivity are those of the three 'buttons' that indicate your living arrangement preferences. It doesn't seem to have any other functionality.

"In the event this isn't one massive madness hallucination or near-death fantasy my brain is making up, I'll probably be needing my medication sooner than later...I assume that's what 'chemical assistance' means?"

Emiri coughs. "Ah, I expected you to ask privately, but, yes. Chemical assistance is all but unknown for uptimers, and so your medicine will need to be specially manufactured. However, we have your first prescription already manufactured." She produces a small bottle of pills, and comes over to hand it to you. Checking it out reveals that it contains three months' supply, as well as instructions for when it should be taken.

Meanwhile, Billie gives you a "Yes it bloody well IS" look, but is soon distracted.

Also recalling the problems with Jack, Marcus hops off his bed, then regrets that decision. "Woa, woa, Hey there! What if you take enough from my account to cover Billie's procedure and then split the rest for both they and I to live in our own Basic accommodations? How long of a Basic living would we get? I mean, I've been a starving artist before, and when I worked with the Resistance I kinda took for granted the basics of survival they scrounged for me. I have no problem getting back to my roots." Marcus offers.

"You don't have to --" Billie starts to say.

"One moment, please," interjects Emiri. She taps a section on her forearm and a holographic display appears over it, showing backwards writing that resembles Korean hangul. Continuing to tap on her forearm, like a keyboard, and changes appear on the display.

A moment later, what's shown on Marcus' tablet also changes. (With your current funds, you can now afford Basic for fourteen months, or Advanced for four and a half.)

"Is this acceptable?" she asks.

Billie looks seriously embarrassed. "I ... uh, if it's okay with him, then I'm good with it, too." They blush a bit, glancing at you, adding a very quiet, "Thank you."

[RainOnTheSun]

Peacekeeper

"Uptimers," Genevieve repeats. "Which makes us... Downtimers, I guess?" She plays with the tablet a bit, long enough to verify that she isn't being given access to anything more than housing options. Finally she picks the basic living arrangements for herself: she doesn't want to spend any more money than she has to before she secures an income, and shared cooking facilities are ideal for her. She doesn't even need to eat very much, and it gives her more opportunities to talk to the natives.

Education and dorm rooms. I could actually go to college this time.

[jmucchiello]

BINARY

She selects the advanced housing option and sets the tablet down (or hands it to Emiri if she seems like she'll take it).

I'm surprised you didn't help Billie.

Thought about it. Marcus helped first.

That's a little cold.

I'm not feeling charitable here. I'm sure that will change when I'm use to the place.

[EpicEclipse]

INQUISITOR (Victoria Riese)
1 :HP ο COND: Healthy

Victoria takes the small bottle and looks at it quizzically. In the past, her medication had been a small vial of dimly glowing electric blue stuff. Opening the pill bottle, she finds dimly glowing blue gel caps. Of course, medicine would have come a long way to concentrating the components of the drug in over a millennium, making the dosage smaller and in a much more convenient format.

But Victoria isn't a doctor, pharmacist, or any kind of professional that deals with the making or issuing of medication. While it wasn't a mouthful of acidy-tasting liquid, it was the right color. Giving the bottle a brief, quizzical look, she taps a pill onto her hand and looks at it closely between her fingers, then looks at the direction on the bottle. "One every few hours or as symptoms develop... take with plenty of water...." she recites more to herself than anything.

She frowns lightly, looking back towards the doctor. "So... putting aside that I don't know where this money even came from to pay for somewhere to live and medication for..." looks at the tablet again. "...A year, but, what about after? I don't exactly have marketable skills... and getting skills like that takes time and money, I know that much. All I have is my powers."

[jmucchiello]

BINARY

"We are supposed to meet a job counselor next," she says. "For myself I wonder if my advanced degrees in biology and chemistry will get me a job washing beakers in a lab." She laughs. "Of course that's the kind of job that's probably automated by now."

[Davies]

"Uptimers," Genevieve repeats. "Which makes us... Downtimers, I guess?"

"Yes, that is what persons from your era are called, when a group term is needed," the doctor confirms.

"...A year, but, what about after? I don't exactly have marketable skills... and getting skills like that takes time and money, I know that much. All I have is my powers."

"We are supposed to meet a job counselor next," [Binary] says. "For myself I wonder if my advanced degrees in biology and chemistry will get me a job washing beakers in a lab." She laughs. "Of course that's the kind of job that's probably automated by now."

"Yes, it is," Emiri confirms. "But there are many jobs that will be open to you. I've already mentioned the entertainment enterprises that could employ Marcus. In addition to that, many downtimers are productively employed as consultants for the other major enterprise here in Pacifica, besides the hospital -- the creation of what we call the Ultimate Encyclopedia. Quite apart from your first-hand knowledge of your own era, your supposedly outdated knowledge of your disciplines could be invaluable in producing an accurate version of the history of those disciplines.

"As for you, Victoria, your powers can be considered marketable skills in and of themselves. Someone who can communicate across language barriers can be crucial for many diplomatic missions, or as part of our rescue operations elsewhere on the continent. Imagine putting an injured person at ease as you explain to them that you've come to help, so that they have no need to be afraid of those helping them. I can't imagine anything more noble.

"Billie's abilities could be put to use in our efforts to re-terraform the planet, by planting Terran-originated species in regions that were subjected to xenoforming in the past."

Billie lets out a snort at this. "Like some sort of super-powered Johnny Appleseed?"

Emiri blinks. "Who?" She shakes her head. "In any event, the meeting with the job counselor will wait for tomorrow, after you've had the chance to travel to your new homes and get a bit settled in."

[jmucchiello]

BINARY

"In any event, the meeting with the job counselor will wait for tomorrow, after you've had the chance to travel to your new homes and get a bit settled in."

"We're going to housing now?" She says. "Will there be any more indoctrination first? I can imagine there might be laws that we've never conceived of. There are certainly going to be customs we know nothing about. You say we have money but we know as much about how to use that money as newborn does."

Just admit it. You want to go clothes shopping.

I want to know how make edible food without setting fire to myself.

[RainOnTheSun]

Peacekeeper

Genevieve's eyebrows go up. She wonders if the doctor is off-script: this seems like information that she'd want to build up to more slowly.

"Um, I'm sorry, did you say rescue operations? Xenoforming?"

[jmucchiello]

BINARY

"Um, I'm sorry, did you say rescue operations? Xenoforming?"

"Like I was saying about not knowing customs. The same applies to not knowing history. We need to know the broad strokes of what happened in the last 1200 years. All we've heard so far is about this ability to gather people from the past and that parts of the world were once held by alien colonists. I'm sure there's more to history than that."

[Flynnarrel]

"Roughly one hundred twenty years, though that is purely theoretical as we have only been producing them for thirty," Emiri answers.

"From today or from our relative age at time of death? I mean, I can probably guess why you aged our clone bodies to our age at death - to minimize the psychological shock on our psyches upon reintegration - but does that mean someone who died older has less time in this place?" Marcus wonders aloud.

Emiri coughs. "... Chemical assistance is all but unknown for uptimers, ..."

Marcus frowns at this. He was a fan of 'chemical assistance'. But it sounded like he'd be connected to the musician community here soon. If there was any group of people who figured out some way to get a good buzz going, it was them.

"Is this acceptable?" she asks.

Billie looks seriously embarrassed. "I ... uh, if it's okay with him, then I'm good with it, too." They blush a bit, glancing at you, adding a very quiet, "Thank you."

Marcus' finger hovers over his 'Basic' button but if he really was going to be a musician he was doing his neighbors no favors if he shared a building, dorm-style. Unless...

"Hey, might there be something like an artist's commune or will the Basic option join us to random people in the dorms?"

Otherwise, he'd have to hit the Advanced living button, if only for the space for creativity and privacy. As much as he just wanted to coast he'd have to get his butt in gear with that option. It would be a low gear, of course, maybe idling in neutral for a bit here and there, but it'd be a gear at least.

"And are there ways to 'upgrade' or alter the living situation? And, as much as I was hoping the 'future Utopia' would be free of an economic system... what happens if we run of of money to afford our lifestyle choice?"



Marcus responds to the gratitude with a gracious nod. "No Problemo." he says with a wave. It genuinely seems to be no problem that he just gave away half his 'life's savings', as these people reckon it. If there's any bit of superiority or disappointment that the corporate executive's response to hearing about Billie's plight was to ask where her own stuff was, Marcus doesn't show it.

[Davies]

"From today or from our relative age at time of death? I mean, I can probably guess why you aged our clone bodies to our age at death - to minimize the psychological shock on our psyches upon reintegration - but does that mean someone who died older has less time in this place?" Marcus wonders aloud.

[/quote]

"From today," the doctor replies promptly. "Your chronological age is effectively zero."

"We're going to housing now?" [Binary] says. "Will there be any more indoctrination first? I can imagine there might be laws that we've never conceived of. There are certainly going to be customs we know nothing about. You say we have money but we know as much about how to use that money as newborn does."

"Generally, we expect you to rely on your new neighbors for such explanations," Emiri says. "But there are relatively few laws here in Pacifica, beyond fairly common-sense ones that all human civilizations have shared -- do not harm others unnecessarily, do not take what does not belong to you, and so forth. As for money, most shopping is done through tablets like the one you just used, and you will find that your new residence comes equipped with one."

"Hey, might there be something like an artist's commune or will the Basic option join us to random people in the dorms?"

Emiri opens her mouth to give you another prompt answer, then pauses and turns to the holographic display above her forearm once more. A few taps later, she looks up again. "There is in fact an artist's group who would be willing to accept a new member. Your Basic living arrangements will now connect you to them, if you so choose."

"And are there ways to 'upgrade' or alter the living situation? And, as much as I was hoping the 'future Utopia' would be free of an economic system... what happens if we run of of money to afford our lifestyle choice?"

"Well, if neither your income nor your savings are able to support your lifestyle, then you will be expected to leave," she says calmly. "And I don't believe anyone has ever claimed that this was a Utopia."

"Um, I'm sorry, did you say rescue operations? Xenoforming?"

"Like I was saying about not knowing customs. The same applies to not knowing history. We need to know the broad strokes of what happened in the last 1200 years. All we've heard so far is about this ability to gather people from the past and that parts of the world were once held by alien colonists. I'm sure there's more to history than that."

"This is really not my department," Emiri says a bit plaintively, then shakes her head. "Very well, a history lesson, in brief.

"While many of the troubles that your era suffered came to an end in the 2060s, others endured into the 2070s. Gradually, however, Earth recovered and passed through several more periods of crisis, with the solar system and nearby star systems gradually being colonized. In the twenty-third century, a new form of faster-than-light travel was developed, more efficient than previous hyperdrives, and much of known space was gradually united in a Confederation of Planets, governed from Earth. The Confederation reached its greatest extent in the twenty-sixth century."

Billie absent-mindedly nods; this seems to be something she's heard before.

But the doctor is not done. "Tragically, that was also when it began to collapse. A series of events ensued that are now known as the Great Disasters. The full story of what happened is still being pieced together; accomplishing this is one of the primary goals of the Ultimate Encyclopedia project. What is definitely known is that Earth was subjected to a series of extraterrestrial assaults that devastated its population and civilization. By the end of the twenty-seventh century, the Confederation of Planets had developed into what is now known as the Deneban Empire, with its capital located at the far end of former-Confederate space, and Earth and the Sol system largely abandoned to their own devices.

"In the thirtieth century, however, a new alliance of Terran city states emerged from the chaos and contacted the Sol system's de facto governing body on Mars." (She pronounces it 'Moss'.) "These were the first of what are now known as the Five Cities -- Mannholm in Europe, Dakana in Africa, Bandhana in India, Eternia in Japan, and Pacifica, here in North America. Our cities are the only cultures on Earth to possess Galactic-level technology, with other civilizations here on Earth ranging from quasi-medieval despotism to twenty-first century dictatorships. Pacifica is the youngest of the Five Cities, established thirty years ago."

She pauses, then asks, "Any questions, bearing in mind that I am not a historian? Oh, wait. You asked about rescue operations. Pacifica is the only civilization in North America ready, willing and able to offer our neighbors assistance during disasters, natural and otherwise. Hence, rescue operations."

[Flynnarrel]

Marcus opens his mouth to reply when she rebutts his 'Utopia' label, but then shuts his mouth. She's right.

Marcus rushes to hit Basic when offered the Commune. Having a bigger buffer before he had to start a music-for-profit endeavor was very appealing.

Marcus notes the history lesson, taking it in, but doesn't comment.

[RainOnTheSun]

Peacekeeper

So this is the science fiction dark ages, Genevieve thinks to herself. She doesn't say it out loud, because she doesn't think Emiri would appreciate her life being described as the dark ages, but just thinking of it that way gives her a little context to work with.

She never found out if the people she tried to save survived, but it feels silly to ask about it again now. Whether she did or not, they're long dead now. Everyone Genevieve ever protected, or fought, or worked with, or lied to, or got fan messages from: all dead. She feels herself starting to crack under the pressure, just a tiny bit, so she stops thinking about it. She gets back to her feet and smiles.

"I think I'm all set," she says. "Can we, um, go on to that "getting clothes" part you mentioned?" On to the next distraction.