nexus_crossings | Ghosts in the Machine

Ghosts in the Machine

There’s a young woman reading through one of the pamphlets in the plaza. She’s dressed head to toe in a rather odd black garment like a padded wetsuit - it looks like it’s all one piece, soft, elastic and form-fitting. Her hair’s a little disheveled and she has a frown of concentration as she reads, but her location doesn’t seem to worry her.

As far as she’s concerned, it’s obvious where she is. The last few weeks have been nothing but tests and interviews and assessment exercises of one form or another. More than a few have taken place using increasingly sophisticated simulation tech. This is just another program, and presumably somewhere above is the AI overseeing her progress.

Still, this is definitely a new one.

“Who comes up with these scenarios?” she wonders aloud in amusement. Then shoots a look at the tiny silver robot floating at a cautious distance. “No offense meant- and that wasn’t my question, sorry.” The Ghost bobs noncommittally, and she looks around, taking in the strange mix of people and aliens, the unrealistic architecture. “So does it matter what I ask?” The answer is murmured quietly, but presumably boils down to ‘no’. She rolls her shoulders and shifts on her feet, making thoughtful sounds for a minute. She really wants to ask something good. Insightful. Practical. Soldierly.

“Is there something around here you really need weapons for?” She had two when she started here - not to mention the ridiculous armor. The assisting ‘Ghost’ AI removed them for her, but that still leaves the question of why this simulation included them...

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"But I have seen another one of your model." Han says with a thoughtful tip of his head. "My friend has one a lot like you."

Han, still hasn't put together than Byrn and Blaze are one and the same, but he certainly remembers the guarding traveling around with another floating robot. He'd be content to chalk it up to Nexus weirdness if the little droid had answered more matter of factly, but it seems to be waffling. Very much like a person does when they're not sure what to say ...

...Whoops. Looks like Ghost's determination to clarify how non-droid-like he is just shot him in the totally metaphorical foot.

"So someone else from our world is around here." Bryn's glad to hear it, though surprised. "Can I talk to them? Can you contact the other AI?" She's hoping that another human will be more willing to give her a clear brief...

"Not exactly." Oh dear. If Han mentions his friend is a robot Bryn will know something's very wrong, but there's no good way to stop him without tipping her off anyway. Ghost looks between them rapidly, realizing he'll half to come at least partly clean and trying to calculate the best way of going about it.

At least Bryn still has some alcohol to hand. She's going to need it in a minute.

"I was hoping not to alarm you unnecessarily," he starts, shooting Han a pointed glance. He hopes the captain will work with him here, but after a whole gargleblaster and their interactions so far it's possible Han will have his own ideas about that. "

But this isn't our first visit to the Nexus, Bryn. You and I are partners, assigned to monitor and patrol this place. Unfortunately, you ran afoul of a temporal distortion that seems to have reverted you to an earlier point in history... which is why you remember none of that.

"

"...What?" Beat. "Are you serious?" It doesn't seem a strong enough reaction but she's just stunned for a minute, trying to take that in. She doesn't know how to react. Ghost nods, watching her closely.

Poor Bryn is lead to be more confused by the turn of events taking place right now, but things are suddenly falling into place for Han. It's fortunate for him that his blonde haired company is focused on her little bot too, because for a second ... when he realizes his two friends with floating robots are actually the same person, his jaw hangs open in disbelief.

The prompt by the doid isn't missed. He's thinking it wants help ironing out these new wrinkles. Whatever programming it's got, it's kind of terrible at being deceptive. Which he supposes is something of mixed blessing. Who would want an AI that was good at lying to you?

Which brings him to another far more important question: Why is it lying to Blaze?

... And what happens to Bryn that makes her into that exo-thing that she is now ...

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner." Han says, trying to smooth things over. "It's been weird trying to act like you and I aren't friends, you see. Because we know each other."

Ghost actually manages to convey a relieved slump as Bryn looks away. Thank the Traveler Han's swooping in to the rescue because the little bot is indeed not programmed for lying. Especially not to its Guardian. Breaking security and sabotaging other people's machinery, yes, but lying about it? Nope. He's going to owe the captain one for this.

As for Bryn, her eyes are wide as she blinks at Han. "We do?"

Something about it doesn't seem to add up, but at this point she's thoroughly confused. It's too much to keep up with, too many implications she's trying to get straight in her head. She's inclined to trust both of them anyway, so when Han backs Ghost up so smoothly she's way too off-guard to question it.

"Hold on." She's having that drink now, thanks, swallowing it down hard. "So that armor I woke up in- that's actually meant to be mine? And I suppose it explains why Ghost's been acting so strangely... but why didn't you tell me?"

"We, um, wanted to let you adjust to the Nexus and gauge your psychological state first," Ghost tells her, telling part of the truth. He's a little more convincing when he adds, "And I was hoping it would wear off quickly."

"Something about this place ..." Han says. His voice drifts off not because he's struggling to lie, no, he does that often enough that when he commits to one he typically does a decent job of it. It's because he's trying to find the right words to make his point.

"The way that all these universes are able to meet makes it unstable. I've seen gravity distorted, distances lengthened and then shortened and then lengthened again, inexplicable weather patterns, but it's not just the regions itself."

Han's hazel eyes look upon her with empathy. "Things happen to the people here too. Aging. Body swapping. All kinds of things. They're always temporary, but no way to know how long it's going to last."

Bryn's gaze shifts from Han to Ghost, then down to the remains of her drink. She rests her elbows on the table and lets out a low, incredulous laugh, just absorbing the situation. Because here she is sitting in a diner full of aliens across from a space captain named Han Solo and an AI sent by the Traveler is telling her she's meant to be a dimension-hopping commando in high-tech power armor.

"You know, if this were anywhere else- if it wasn't for half the crazy things I've seen today - I don't think I could buy that. Here it actually kind of explains a few things. Or else I'm actually dreaming all this." Which seems more likely, overall.

"Let's go with 'weird but real' for now. Please." Ghost drifts close to look up at her almost pleadingly. He doesn't want her to stop taking the situation seriously, not while she's human and fragile.

"All right." She takes a deep breath. "So- we all know each other. Everyone I know back home, my family, they're all older than I know them. And I run around interdimensional junctions in powered armor..." She looks back up at Han, mouth quirking. "I wish I could remember it."

~~It's a perfectly fine establishment and Han Solo is a good name for a Captain of Space.~~

Han doesn't have any idea why he's going along with the continued misdirection of his friend. Bryn/Blaze is closer to the truth now than Ghost would have ever had her known if not for Han and his previous observation. Somehow it seems like even more deceit is going on now, although, it could be because he wasn't involved in the lying till now.

She has a right to know what happens. She ought to be able to determine what she wants to do with these fleeting moments of humanity the Nexus somehow gave her back. It's the most important part of being human (he would say) - the right to make choices for one's self.

There better be a damn good reason for keeping Blaze in the dark.

"I've only been here a few months, but in that time you've been a good friend to me. If something like this happened to me, I'm sure you'd be trying to watch out for me too."

"I hope so." Rattled though she is, she manages a smile for Han. "Whoever I'm supposed to be normally, at least she knows how to choose her friends."

It means she's not in this alone. She can handle this, right? They can handle it. Bryn draws another slow breath, trying not to let the implications get to her. It seems unlikely she could have missed anything too awful back home, especially not if her people are exploring other dimensions. And she gets to be in the vanguard, which is a privilege she could hardly dream of. Still, it must have taken at least a few decades for all that to happen. She's almost afraid to ask how her parents are doing now. What home is like. Whether she has a sibling or two after all. Light, what if she has her own family by now?

"...Part of me wants to ask for everything you can tell me about my future," she admits, and to Ghost's dismay adds in his direction, "I think you and I will have to have a talk about that."

Once she's had time to deal with the existing shock. She has to have another drink before she asks, "You really don't know how long I'll be stuck like this? Because if I always come here in heavy armor, maybe I should make the most of getting out of it for a while."

"That might not be such a bad idea," Ghost agrees cautiously.

Taking to Bryn about the future sounds more like Ghost's job than Han's. He knows very little about the danger she faces or even what her life is like outside the Nexus apart from a few brief descriptions from Blaze - and from what he could tell, Blaze didn't retain much if any of her memories of her previous life.

~~Or lives, as the case was.~~

The idea that she does make the most of it does seem to shake Captain Solo out of some somber thoughts, though. Visibly. You could practically see the change taking place in his eyes.

"If there's anything you think you might want to do, I'd be happy to keep you company." He offers almost timidly. "I have to admit, other times when I've talked to you ... you're so focused on work that I know very little about what you like to do for fun."

Bryn's not back up to grinning yet, but there's warmth in the smile she gives Han. Honestly, she's grateful as much for his attitude as the offer. All her youthful determination to get through this crazy day without breaking stride feels suddenly quite naive and inadequate set against this news. She's not crumbling, but she is shaken, and more than a little grateful for any kind of backup. That said, what he actually says makes her pause.

"Really? That... sounds really sad, actually. I suppose it's not surprising considering the whole lack of any clothes besides armor. I mean, do I sleep in that?" Possibly she shouldn't be musing over all that out loud, but she's nearly finished her drink and she's a bit irked with her older self on that score. She never thought she'd need one single change of clothes? What the hell?

"But I'd love the company. I really would. Really, I'm up for anything that isn't sitting around pondering... things. There must be people doing something fun around here."

"Something like dancing?" Ghost suggests, fishing for a hint of the Guardian he knows. See Han, she does too enjoy ~~things~~ a thing other than fighting.

Bryn shrugs, almost chipper. "Sure, that's a good option! I mean, I warn you I'm no good at it, but it's fun."

He hadn't meant to bring the mood down with observation and he suspects there's probably plenty about the things that Blaze likes to do that Han doesn't know about, but he's being honest. What he knows about her is that she's dedicated to being a guardian and not all that much else.

Even with the offer of a speeder versus sparrow race still lingering in the back of his mind, he wasn't completely sure if she saw the possibility as fun or as an exercise to keep her riding sharp. It could be that she sees it as both. And she has a curious nature, both as Bryn and as Blaze. To see how his tech stands up to hers is another facet that makes it interesting.

"Dancing, huh?"

He has to force himself to smile because even though he has danced with other women before, it always reminds him of Bria. "I knew a girl once who took it upon herself to teach me how to slow dance passably. Anything more uptempo than that, I'll be faking it. Faking can be fun though."

"I've never really tried slow dancing. Faking is another story. It's the most time-honored style there is, right?"

The good (bad?) news is that Bryn really is better at picking up on subtle expressions than Blaze. The definitely bad news is that she's a little too drunk to be tactful about it.

"We can give that a miss if you'd rather not do it, you know." She leans forward, her tone assuring. "Plenty of people are shy about dancing. There must be hundreds of other things we can do. There are parks here, right? Landmarks we're not technically supposed to climb?

"What's the most time-honored tradition? Faking or slow dancing, because I could buy either answer."

Maybe she meant both all along. Either way, the thought makes Han smile a little bit more. He's not that he's overwhelmed by the emotions that he feels when his mind drifts back to his on again, off again flame. There was enough of a reaction to see that he felt something, though.

"Hey, darling, if dancing is what you want to do, I'm game." He says seriously. His hazel eyes seem a bit softer as she leans in. As if a cynical veil had been lifted from them. "Whatever we do is gonna be fun."

"Well, I meant faking," Bryn admits, mouth curving into a smile, "but I could be wrong."

Light brown eyes study him back for a moment. Not because she doubts his word, she just wants to. "Okay then," she says softly. "Some dancing, some faking... whatever else we find." What they do is almost an afterthought right now. She's just glad not to be alone doing it.

"We'd better get out of here, then. I mean, whenever you're finished," she adds. Just because she's eager to pay up and get moving doesn't mean Han has to abandon his food, after all.

Han's noticed that she trusts him. Her actions throughout the course of this evening tell him as much. When he'd tripped up and been inconsistent enough that perhaps she should be more skeptical of him, Byrn still seems to want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

That tends to happen to him more often than not.

People wanting to believe in him - even as he's giving them reasons not to. He's not sure why that is, but he's kind of glad for it. He's not above using that to his advantage when he has to.

"I'm not above leaving the money on the table and going right now." Kryff waiting for the check. Hell, if Bryn wasn't here, he'd have half a mind to dine and dash. "I can cover."

It's a quick and polite offer that he makes as he withdraws a wallet. His eye flick over a few credit vouchers and he does a little mental math before leaving what he thinks is going to pay the bill and leave 15% for gratuity.

Edited 2016-10-10 01:01 (UTC)

Bryn at least has the excuse that he's her friend and Ghost is corroborating that. And apparently a lack of patience for sifting through half-truths and conflicting evidence is a trait that's not wholly unique to Blaze. She has far too much to come to terms with here, without questioning the handful of people willing to help her.

But let's face it, the Han Solo charm has plenty to do with it. She's only human ~~now~~.

"Aw, Han, Ghost said we aren't short on funds." She's already pushing herself to her feet as she chides him. Her protest is light, though- if he wants to be nice, she probably should accept in good grace. It's just that so far it's been Han (and Ghost, of course) helping her find her way around here. It'd be nice to be able to do something in return... "You realize I'll have to get you back later."

Even if she has to leave a note for her future-self to do it. For now, there's just the challenge of negotiating their way out of the diner: post-Gargleblaster this is slightly trickier than on the way in, but there's a bare minimum of bouncing from wayward chairs. Ghost is hovering close anyway.

There is that. He was trying to be amiable before, but now that he knows it's Blaze, he's gonna make every effort to behave like a prince. Why he feels compelled to be that way ... he's not all that sure. Maybe it's because he couldn't himself being happy in a life as an exo, particularly if he used to be a human. If she's getting one more night (day, week ... there's no way to know how long for sure, but certainly temporary) to be human, he wants to help make it a nice one.

"Of course." He murmurs, flashing her a smile. "Make it someday when I'm in a bad mood and not expecting it, eh? It would mean more than you know. More than I'll be willing to let on, too."

Han has a couple advantages over Bryn when it comes to metabolizing the drink. He drinks regularly, which makes him better at tolerating it. Plus he's taller and heavier than his guardian friend. And male. All the biological factors are on his side. He's off to her side and a half step behind, in the off chance she should stumble, he's in a good catching position. Unless she falls forward.

Oh well, you can't anticipate everything.

She turns to look at him thoughtfully, her expression rather undercut by the wobble her sudden change in direction induces. She's not a small or lightly-built woman, but that drink is definitely getting to her. Bryn isn't especially graceful at the best of times, and she lacks the sheer physical assurance Blaze has after wearing her body for so long. She absently grabs at the back of the nearest chair without looking, and misses.

"...Sure. I'll, uh, leave myself a note. Hey, Ghost, make a note for me." In case she reverts to... to normal? And doesn't remember. Doesn't that feel a little messed-up to think about. Still, something about his request has her chuckling as she wheels back toward the door. "You're a funny kind of guy, Captain Solo."

Her balance is okay as long as she's charging forward. She doesn't seem in serious danger of falling until she has to step aside hastily to avoid a bigger customer coming in the door, and then she stumbles a bit to the side. She's never been that good at evasive maneuvers.

"People tell me."

That he's funny. He doesn't usually feel like he's being funny most of the time, but he supposes he could see how some people might get that impression of him. Of course, he's thinking that she means that he's humorous. He doesn't have the mental or emotional energy to try to deal with the fact that Bryn might think he's strange.

He's certainly unique. Even in a galaxy full of some very interesting people. He just doesn't like to think about the implications of that.

"You mind being seen walking arm in arm with a spacer bum?" He says, trying not to let his concern show through to much. He half thinks that if she catches on to the fact he might be trying to steady her, she'll refuse him outright.

Han's not remotely high on the list of strange people she's seen today, if that's any comfort. Nonetheless, there are things about him that just don't quite tally up in Bryn's mind, she's just content to chalk them up to his quirky nature. Or quirky cultural background, she can't distinguish the two at this stage.

"Why would I mind that?" She looks puzzled at him, shoving the door open into the alien sunlight. See, Han, this kind of thing is why she thinks you're odd. But his tactic works: rather than get the chance to dismiss the idea of needing help, she waits for him to catch up and slips her arm through his of her own accord. See? She doesn't mind at all. Ghost... might be trying not to sigh out loud. At least Han's trying to help.

"All right, now we just need to find our next target," she says cheerfully, scanning the street each way.

"I... We've logged a few popular locations before," Ghost offers. Partly so he can help and partly so he can steer them clear of establishments he finds dubious.

Han is trying to help. Later, he's going to wonder why bothered to help and perhaps kick himself later for overreaching and oversympathizing, but right now? He feels compelled to act on what he thinks are her best interests.

He finds himself trying to think about the last time he walked someone like this and it feels like it was a long time ago. Even longer since he'd actually gone anywhere with the intention of dancing, but, if that's Bryn's idea of a good time, that's exactly what he feels like they should be doing. He can't deny that it's been kind of a nice evening so far and that there was no reason to think that it wouldn't continue to be so.

"What do you think?" He murmurs. No need to talk at a loud volume now that they were so close. "Can you little friend find us a good spot? Can't say I've tried to find a place for dancing around here so ... I got nothing."

At this moment, Bryn cares less about specifically what they do and more that they do something. It won't make the situation any better or more logical or easier to accept, perhaps, but it's better than feeling lost and helpless. Even if she suspects that's what she is. Anyway, her friends seem amenable to dancing so that's what she's going with.

"I'm not sure how much he knows about dancing," she replies quietly, eyeing her - their? - footless friend with a smile. "But I think we ought to give him a shot."

"...You know, I might not do a lot of dancing, but I have seen plenty of it in the last few years." And he has very sharp hearing, too. "And compared to anything else I've had to search for, this... is nothing."

If he can find one specific corpse in a system strewn with billions of them, he can surely find a suitable venue for his human charges to dance a while. Not that he can point that out, of course, so he simply runs an information check and leads the way, floating farther ahead than usual in his determination to prove that he's got this. "This way."

Bryn shoots Han a grin and follows. The captain will find that she's just as bad as her Exo counterpart for trying to charge ahead and drag him along. She's just shorter and has a mercifully small fraction of Blaze's mass. She's less chatty now, too, because despite herself it's hard not to be a little preoccupied with her situation. And the questions that keep coming to mind.

He can appreciate that. It's exactly what he'd want to do in her place, although, not dancing per se. Something to keep his mind busy. Something to keep him from thinking too much about why this was happening and why everyone's answers only lined up kinda sorta. It's the kind of thing that would make him crazy if he thought on it too deeply.

"I'm not sure either, but he's always floated around pretty good. Graceful-like, you know? Ain't seen him bump into something even once."

Han doesn't wait for something really clever before he tries to say something funny. He's more of a quantity over quality guy - cracking wise so often that sooner or later he's bound to say something that will make a person smile. It kinda helps that he always seems so amused with himself.

At any rate, he trusts ghost to lead them somewhere that they can dance. The socket of his arm is thankful that Bryn isn't as strong as a wookiee. "I've always loved your enthusiasm sweetheart." His companion seems to be waking better at least. That's a good sign.

Bryn laughs, so either he's on a roll or she's easily amused. Quite possibly both.

"Well, there's no point in doing anything halfway. Not if it's worth doing..." She gives a curious look back at him, however, heedless of Ghost darting over to a door up ahead and waiting for them. "But I'm, um. Glad to know future me isn't completely joyless." At least she has the hope that she'll still get excited about something that far ahead. Which- who knows how far it is. Twenty, sixty, a hundred years? She's young enough to have a whole lot of field career ahead of her.

She returns her attention to Ghost as they get close enough to hear the music drifting out from what looks initially like an ordinary bar. "That's old Earth... country music?" Something she's heard a scant handful of times in her life. What an odd choice.

"They usually switch between styles of music here. And you wanted something fast..." It seems logical. And at least it's something humans can appreciate. More to the point, Blaze commented favorably on the place the last time they dropped by to check it out.

Han gives a wide-eyed look at the exterior of this place. Bar? Dance hall? He supposes he'll figure it out when they get inside. The look of the place in unassuming enough, if it's a place that caters to all different styles of music like Ghost says - it would make sense to keep the outside kinda plain. It's the honkey-tonk that he doesn't seem to know what to do with.

"This is what you guys listen to?" He says, shooting a look over at Bryn for confirmation. There are words that he can pick out about an achy breaky heart because the music is so loud that he can hear it from here.

Without really waiting for confirmation and silently thankful that her bot says the music is going to change, he blinks and leans in to open the door for his companions. He offers Bryn a slight, but noticeable smile and bids her entry.

"Ladies first."

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