nexus_crossings | (no subject)

"Coffee or tea?" Ianto was exploring the Plaza after being dumped in it not long ago, and once he is able to replace the clothing he died in with another suit, he opts to ask a question. He is hanging out at the park, and he is sitting on a bench with a paper cup filled with a warm cup of coffee. He is trying to deal with the fact one he is dead and two he is not dead. He's not sure if a deadman should be able to smell or even taste. And if Owen's recent time as a zombie should have taught him, Ianto Jones should not be able to enjoy a hot cup of coffee.

But his cheeky question didn't seem serious, and not exactly, what Ianto Jones was looking for. He stares at the cup that he hasn't touched out of fear of having to purge it out. "So what can one tell me about being dead? Or undead for that matter?" The cut on his cheek is still there, and he still feels a tad bit ill from the alien virus that killed him. And he clears his throat, and he looks at the cup of coffee with a sense of longing. "And is this Nexus place either Heaven or Hell? And if not do you believe in whatever afterlife that you've been told about?" He phews after asking his question to what seems to be none.

He has more to ask about the matter, but Ianto hopes to spill those questions on whoever might answer his questions about life and death.

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Adia shakes her head. "No, they were made by humans. They were designed for dangerous labor and given artificial intelligence... their sentience emerged, somehow, and they rebelled their work conditions. It started a a war." She smiles tiredly. "Still a handful... we're under occupation."

It's a depressing sentiment, the ratio of good to bad aliens, at least to Adia. "Maybe there are other good aliens, but they're better at blending in," she suggests. "So they don't need your organization's help."

"Killer AI, sounds like every bit of science fiction involving robots." Ianto is sympathetic to the situation Adia's world is going through. The thought of something humanity making an AI that would gain sentience is chilling. "And seeing they were originally built to do dangerous labor, I'd hate to think of what they've done to you lot."

He looks to his empty coffee cup, and then he looks to the people in the Plaza. And as much as he knows about how diverse the universe is, and even though he's seen some of it, everything seems to compare to it. And he laughs a little at the thought of the good aliens hiding in plain sight. "I wouldn't blame them for hiding either. And there are plenty of aliens that exist who look human."

"The ones that still look like robots have machine guns in their arms," Adia says with an uncomfortable frown. "But the ones who look human are the most dangerous." She twists the ends of her scarf and hesitates to say more, not wanting to burden her problems on someone who's dealing with his own. Finally, she adds, "They've killed most of us by destroying the twelve colonies. We were on the run for a while, but they caught up to us."

Still, she's alive and looks healthy, despite the wear on her clothes. "Technically, I'd be an alien if I visited your Earth," she points out. "If there are aliens who look human, then... well, they'd be treated like any other human."

"The least obvious threat is the biggest threat." Ianto can understand how living under any type of occupation can be horrible. And even if The Dalek occupation of Earth was short lived, it was horrific and for some point it truly did look grim. And he was fortunate enough to get an insiders story from some of the families who lost loved ones. But it wasn't his job to play nice, but to make sure that people 'forgot'.

But there's a nod of his head. "We'd know no better. That's unless you'd go wonky, and made it obvious that you weren't exactly human. But those who slide under the radar without drawing attention to themselves do just fine."

Adia nods unhappily. She'd have a great deal of sympathy for anyone under the Dalek occupation -- the Cylons have at least the facade of peaceful subjugation. "What have been the scariest aliens you've encountered?" she asks, to get a bit of perspective.

"I think there's very little danger of me going 'wonky'," Adia says with a small laugh. "I don't think there's much difference between me and an Earthling, anyway. In my universe, Earth was colonized by the thirteenth tribe who left Kobol before everyone else. We shouldn't be genetically any different."

Ianto sits and thinks on the question of the scariest alien, and without sounding, the least bit bitter he answers. "Humans. I know as a whole we're not bad, but I came to question humanity in the past four days and what it is capable of doing." The entire rounding up kids to give to the 456 to use as drugs doesn't sit well with Ianto right now.

"And when we're cornered we're ruthless, or we just throw our hands up in the air to give whatever that happens to be threatening us exactly what it wants. And don't get me started on how we treat each other." Nope he doesn't sound the least bit bitter, nope, nope, all is just fine as he stares at his coffee cup and fiddles with it in his hands. "And I find it really hard to think that at some point we'll become the model civilization in the universe." He coughs. "Well my universe that is, or so my boss has told me."

Adia looks down at the twisted ends of her scarf while Ianto gives his answer. It wasn't what she was expecting, but she doesn't disagree, not when his reasoning hits so close to home. "We've done all of that and more," she says softly. "Maybe it's for the best that we're all alone in my universe."

That last bit catches her attention, however, and the tiny spark of hope that she always carries within her. "Model civilization? In what way?"

"I hardly doubt you're alone in your universe. I mean with all of those planets, stars, and galaxies there has to be intelligent life out there just waiting to meet you, or perhaps you have already crossed paths." Ianto knows things are different now, but with how Jack spun the stories it all seems surreal to know that humanity will finally get its act together and act civilized.

He looks back to the coffee cup, and he goes to fish his hand into his pocket to pull out some change. "If there's one thing we're known for it is the humanities. But my boss wouldn't tell me much more." He gets to his feet, and he stretches his legs out. "I was going to see about another cup."

"I wish I had your optimism," Adia says with a small smile. "We've traveled through our galaxy quite a bit... if they're out there, they aren't making themselves known." Maybe the aliens know better than to get involved with a species that seems determined to cause its own extinction. Or maybe sentient robots fill the "science fiction" quota of her universe.

She stands up as well, quickly, and dusts off her hands. "Oh. Don't let me keep you, then. It was nice to meet you, Ianto."