Blaze-37 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rekindledtitan) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nexus_crossings2016-09-14 09:37 pm
rekindledtitan) wrote in nexus_crossings2016-09-14 09:37 pm
Closed Paths
Blaze hasn’t been around the Plaza much of late, keeping her Nexus visits to brisk strolls through less well-protected areas. Areas she’s less likely to run into familiar faces. But today the Exo Guardian teleports straight in, the signs of recent battle marring her armor as she pulls off her helm and looks around. After a moment, she exchanges a glance with the tiny silver bot floating at her side, then strides over and parks herself on the nearest sturdy bench.
“Ever feel like you’ve learned more than you could have imagined and still wound up right back where you started?” It’s the first frustrated question that comes to mind. She shakes her head at it.
“Never mind. How do you ground yourself when you need to get your head straight?”
That's an easy one. She has an abundance of questions today, and to her unease most of them aren’t ones she feels free to share.
“Ever feel like you’ve learned more than you could have imagined and still wound up right back where you started?” It’s the first frustrated question that comes to mind. She shakes her head at it.
“Never mind. How do you ground yourself when you need to get your head straight?”
That's an easy one. She has an abundance of questions today, and to her unease most of them aren’t ones she feels free to share.
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Her Ghost interjects, covering for her. "
I don't know how anyone could react well in that situation. He must have been terribly lost... and afraid.""See, that I can understand," Blaze says, breaking her silence in a low voice. "It's a hell of a lot easier to forgive a scared kid for doing something dumb. But now the Cylons are holding all the cards, and they've got no excuse to act like cowards."
She tilts her head and teases Adia outright at that last though, trying to lighten the mood in her own awkward way. "Hey, you organic types are the experts on 'sharing code'. The rest of us keep it to ourselves. But since we're talking individuality, I kinda skipped over asking your name. I'm Blaze-37; most people just call me Blaze outside of formalities. And Ghost already introduced himself."
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The joke has its intended effect on Adia -- she lets out a surprised laugh, loud enough that she covers her mouth until she's quieted down. "You have a point there... It's nice to meet you, Blaze. And you, too, Ghost. My name's Adia."
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Adia's laughter seems to make the Guardian relax even more. Blaze is honestly quite delighted that her joke worked, and it shows in her voice. "Pleasure to meet you too, Adia. You said you worked on a research vessel? What's your normal post?"
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"I'm a microbiologist," Adia says, perking up a bit at the subject change. "We studied infectious diseases. It was research-only on the Chiron, but since we settled on New Caprica, my work became more practical -- trying to prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases, mostly. It was a crash course in public health."
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Not everyone who has the chance to learn is willing to," Ghost says quietly. Blaze half turns her head toward him, then nods and claps Adia on the shoulder. Gently, for her, so as not to bruise their new friend."Guess it isn't easy to put a war to rest. But you've got the capability, all of you. The people of our Earth treated one another viciously for thousands of years. Go back a thousand years and I'll bet they wouldn't believe they could ever make peace, either. And yet they did." There's a fierce earnestness in her voice, a deep faith in what humanity can achieve.
"With everyone crammed into ships or trying to build a settlement from scratch, right. Must be a worthy challenge trying to keep them all healthy. I don't know too much about the fine points of epidemiology, but public health seems like a major concern down in the City."
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She's also surprised by Blaze's earnestness. "Did they make peace with one another because of the alien invasion, or because of something else?" She'll be more impressed if they were able to sustain peace without an outside threat.
"It's tough," she agrees. "Not everyone is on the same page on proper disease prevention and treatment, either. But at least the Cylons haven't interfered with that. What sorts of diseases do people in the City have to deal with? You said there were a few million living there?"
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She's hopeful, at any rate.
"If these Cylons are organic, I guess they'd be almost as vulnerable to infection as the rest of you," Blaze muses. She's a little bit amused by the idea of (other) construct people getting the sniffles. She doesn't even know why, it just tickles her. "The City's mostly worried about preventing crowd epidemics, from what I know. 'Course, we Guardians only hear about screening and quarantine procedures for that kinda stuff: we don't have much to do with internal matters. Luckily for us the Golden Agers wiped out nearly all the old diseases and parasites, but animals are still a major vector."
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Adia frowns a little, but it's not directed at Blaze. "Well... yes, and no. They can get sick, but they aren't as diverse genetically as humans are. I mean, because there are so many copies of each model, and only seven models. They could be more resistant to illness, too. They're stronger than us, physically." It reminds her of some research that she had been working on at some point, but the moment is forgotten.
"Is it close quarters, in the City? That increases the risk of epidemics. What sorts of animals are spreading disease? That isn't a problem so much for us anymore."
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"With diversity that low they'd be pretty vulnerable if they did meet a serious plague. But I guess they could just correct their immune systems and run off some new bodies." Blaze shakes her head. "Hnnh. Even if it's just physical, it must be lousy not to get your own face. Can't be healthy."
There's no saving some people, though. The City is much easier to help. "I, uh. I'm not sure. Seems like they've got plenty of open space inside the walls, but the residential areas are pretty built-up." Blaze rubs sheepishly at one of her antennae as she admits, "Never been down to take a look personally. I know they've got cattle, sheep, donkeys. A lot of birds. Oh, and dogs." She remembers one in a picture!
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"You all don't look the same?" She asks Blaze curiously. She frowns to herself at what Caspar or any of the Cylons must think when they see their own face on somebody else. "I've never heard any of them complain about it."
"Oh, I see." Adia nods knowingly. "Domesticated animals are huge vectors for disease. A flu strain can mutate within an animal population and then jump to humans fairly easily."
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"
It's probably normal to a Cylon. Perhaps they don't see it as a problem.""They will when the humans keep mixing them up." Silly, silly Cylons. Visual identification is important!
"Right. I guess that's one reason some of the old bugs managed to stick around so long. The Consensus, who run the City, they seem very tough on public health. Kinda have to be."
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She smiles briefly at Ghost. It must be nice to have a constant companion who can offer his own perspective. "What about you?" She asks him. "Do Ghosts look different? Do you.. um, socialize with other Ghosts?"
"They mutate so quickly," Adia says, referring to viruses, "The immune system can't keep up." She sighs. "Honestly, I wish we could be tougher when it comes to disease. The Saggitarions distrust modern medicine, and other people don't take vaccinations seriously. Or hand-washing. Which -- we still have clean water, we might as well take advantage of that."
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Ghost hesitates a little bit before answering, as if being asked such a question takes him off-guard. "
Well... we all start off looking like this. Over time many of us acquire more distinctive shells, just as our Guardians earn their personal gear." His shell spins for a moment. "I... do speak with other Ghosts from time to time, especially if we're friends with their Guardian too.""Some of the others have nicknames too," Blaze volunteers. "Ghost here just never settled on one he liked."
As for the issue of contagion... both bots blink at Adia in shock. Blaze sounds completely dumbfounded as she echoes, "Don't take them seriously?" Squint, squint. "The Hive-ridden hell? Why wouldn't you- they don't want anyone else to die, do they?"
Yup, looks like the highly advanced war machine is broken. Without humanity even trying.
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She hopes she didn't commit some sort of social gaffe by asking Ghost her questions, but she didn't want to leave him out of the conversation. "I never liked having a nickname, either," Adia says. "But you're able to tell one another apart, right?"
She cringes visibly at their reaction, even though she knows that they aren't blaming her. Still, it's hard not to take responsibility for all of humanity when there are so few of them left. "It's more complicated than that," she says, a touch defensive. "Many people lost their vaccination records when the colonies were destroyed. Their biggest concerns now are getting enough food to eat and keeping their shelter from collapsing in a heavy rain. We try to run as many clinics as we can, but it's difficult to get to everyone."
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Ghost doesn't seem to mind answering, for what that's worth; even his surprise is wearing off as they talk and he relaxes a little. Blaze is trying her best not to interrupt her shy partner. Adia seems quite safe to talk to, after all.
"
Oh, yes. And once we've bonded with a Guardian, they can recognize us too. Other people don't, um, need to as much." He flexes his shell in what looks like uncertainty before he ventures, "Do people often try to nickname you? It doesn't seem necessary."Blaze seems taken aback when Adia flinches like that. "Hey, relax. I'm not mad at you. And I guess you've got a point about your priorities. I just don't understand why people wouldn't be on board with precautions like handwashing when the situation's so critical."
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Being incredibly shy herself, Adia is happy to hold a conversation with Ghost at his comfort level. "Are you always with Blaze, then?" she asks curiously. She shrugs a little at his question. "Some people use it as a way to show closeness, but my name doesn't shorten easily, so it sounds strange to me."
"Sorry." Adia murmurs, relaxing her posture. She smooths out the wrinkles in her scarf and adds softly, "People are trying to take care of themselves as best they can. When you're constantly under attack, certain things can fall by the wayside."
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"
Always. Or depending on how you look at it, she's always with me." That gets a chuckle from the Titan. "Shortening your name wouldn't make a lot of sense, I agree. Besides, it's a nice name."Blaze nods slowly at Adia's words. "That old survival instinct, I guess. It just isn't easy, thinking of people suffering when it could be prevented. There's no room for error in situations like ours."
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"Thank you," Adia says, flattered. "I hope you find a name you like."
"There are people who are worse off than me." Adia shows Blaze her hands -- clean, but the fingernails are cracked. "Surviving means different things to different people."