A reminder to not count your Earths before they've hatched.

[chiron_survivor]

It is not unusual to find Adia in the Plaza. She is there frequently enough, sitting in front of a Nexus terminal or fixing herself a cup of coffee. It is not even unusual to find her accompanied by pokémon. This time it's only one, a large bird that stands nearly as tall as she does. It stays close to her seat, keeping a watchful eye for suspicious characters.

What is unusual is the expression on her face.

Adia has come to the Nexus upset before, but this is different. All her nervous energy is gone, replaced with a washed-out, nearly lethargic appearance. She's holding a children's drawing in her hands, staring at it for long seconds before folding it along well-worn creases. She picks at a corner, staring into the distance, then unfolds it and starts the process all over again.

This goes on for several minutes until Bucky, wise bird that he is, gently nudges her with his beak. Coming back to herself, she blinks and looks around, remembering where she is.

"Something... something bad happened back home. A lot of people are... really upset. And losing hope. How do you come back from that?" She looks down at the picture and whispers, "How do you learn to hope again?"

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

Adia has a familiarity with previous incarnations of the Doctor, but this face is new to her. It takes a moment for her to focus on him and his words. "Yes," she says softly. She refolds the picture in her hands. "Please." She has suffered so much loss in such a short span of time. She can handle the truth, no matter how harsh. How could it be any worse than what has already happened?

The bird, however, doesn't seem to be agree. He's keeping a hard stare on the Doctor. He's not exactly sure why his companion is so sad, but he's sure as heck not going to let some random passer-by make her feel worse.

[not_the_question]

He ignores the Bird. At least it's not a raven. He would have issue with that. He sits next to her and speaks softly. His Scottish voice tones not as strong as usual.

"Well, on first observation, I would say you still have hope, or you wouldn't be so upset. That's the problem with hope. It's hard to resist."

[chiron_survivor]

Bucky is not ignoring you, good sir. But he's speaking softly to Adia, so he tones down the glaring. A little.

She laughs quietly, but it isn't a happy sound. "Isn't that part of the problem? If I hadn't put so much hope into finding Earth -- if all of us hadn't -- then maybe the disappointment of it being destroyed wouldn't be so overwhelming."

[not_the_question]

Oh that feeling. The Doctor knows it well. Especially after Missy had lied about the location of Gallifrey.

"So, you went seeking your home planet and found it destroyed. I don't think your question is about hope, you have hope or you wouldn't be here asking that question. You hope someone will give you the 'right answer'. But there isn't a right answer."

He pauses and tilts his head. "So, now that we've addressed hope, tell me, what's actually bothering you about it?"

[chiron_survivor]

"It's not my home planet." She doesn't say it defensively, despite how world-weary she seems. "Human life in my universe began on a planet called Kobol. A few thousand years ago, humans abandoned Kobol and founded twelve colonies in a different star system. But there was a group of humans -- the thirteenth tribe -- who left Kobol before anyone else and settled on a planet they named Earth. For a very long time, we thought it was a myth..."

And yes, she knows how real Earth is to almost every other human who shows up in the Nexus. It makes the loss of hers all the more painful.

As to why it's bothering her, she leans back in her seat and meets his gaze for a moment. "We're at war with genocidal robots called Cylons. They destroyed the twelve colonies and have had us on the run for nearly three years. Earth was our last-ditch effort at finding allies... and a new home."

[not_the_question]

He's not familiar with her universe. Though, the Cylons sound like Daleks, so he can relate.

"So, you're actually upset that you placed all your hope in one planet and it wasn't there."

He nods.

"So, you wanted it to be your home planet. Emotionally, it's the same as what I said."

He hums in thought.

"Are you seriously telling me there are no other planets suitable for human existence in your universe? Just the 13?"

Because, he can't believe that for a second.

[chiron_survivor]

The Cylons and Daleks do have a couple of things in common, although they'd both likely be offended at the comparison.

Her mouth tightens a little at his comment, but she can't deny that he's right. She was looking forward to calling Earth her new home. "No, I'm sure if we had infinite resources, we'd eventually find a suitable planet. In fact, we lived on a new planet for nearly a year... barely habitable, but we were making it work." She looks down at the folded paper in her hands. "Then the Cylons found us. They always find us..."

[not_the_question]

Which is just another think they'd have in common with each other.

"So the issue isn't finding a home yet. The issue is your battle with the Cylons."

He nods. Typical. Still sounds like a Daleks.

"What is their point? Why are they fighting you? What do they plan to do if they win?"

[chiron_survivor]

"I don't know," she admits. "Not anymore."

Okay, even she knows that's not much of answer. She looks up at the Doctor. "Humans created them around fifty years ago, for military use and dangerous labor. They had AI, but they weren't designed to be sentient. Somehow that property emerged on its own."

It's old history for her, before she was born, but she still looks a little guilty for it. "They rebelled and then fled the colonies... almost three years ago, they came back and turned the colonial defense system against itself, and then chased the rest of us across the galaxy. I would have told you back then that their goal was to exterminate us out of revenge. And hate. But now..."

She pauses to breathe. And think. "Now I don't know. Because they're having their own civil war. And the rebels joined our side. They've even given us a tactical advantage. I don't doubt that the other Cylons still hate us, but it doesn't seem so simple anymore. They were keeping secrets from their own kind... to what end?" She grips the folded paper in her hands. "It's like they want something from us, but I don't know what that is. Nobody does."

[not_the_question]

"So computers who learned to defend themselves from the people who made them."

He says it like it's an ancient story that he's heard hundreds of times. Which, it actually is, from his point of view.

"That's the problem with AI, humans are always underestimating them. So these Cylons became self-aware. They moved themselves from simple AI into living creatures. Which means they identified as a species."

He smirks slightly. Because it sounds so much like his adventure with the Vardy.

"Has anyone tried pressing the reset button?"

[chiron_survivor]

"Robots," she corrects quietly. "They have individual bodies. I'm not sure what the inorganic models are like, but the biological models are all individuals." Realizing how strange that sounds, she adds, "Humans didn't do that. In the forty years they were gone, they somehow gave themselves human bodies." Like a weird reversed Cyberman.

He'll find no argument with her over humans perpetually underestimating AI. It's happened twice over now. Possibly a third, if Cylons existed on Kobol, too. It would explain the mass exodus...

But when he suggests somehow reseting them, she recoils in horror. "No. I don't know if that's possible. And even if we could, that's not right." She holds that folded paper to her chest, as if somehow protecting it. "We may be at war, but they aren't monsters." She frowns softly. "They're not that different from us, in the grand scheme of things..."

[not_the_question]

Well, rebooting systems tends to be quick ways to fix a host of computer problems. But he won't argue with her.

"So what are you fighting over? What is this war all about?"

[chiron_survivor]

That is the crux of the problem, isn't it. So long as both humans and Cylons are kept in the dark about this war is really about, there's no hope of resolution. "I don't know if anyone knows at this point." She sighs. "But once the Cylons realize that their resurrection technology is gone, they're going to want to fix that."

[not_the_question]

"So in that short amount of time everyone forgot? Or did no one ever know?"

Because that's just... weird. To have it happen on one planet or a part of a planet, but a universe-wide war? And no one to know? That's problematic in the Doctor's mind.

[chiron_survivor]

"I think..."

She trails off for a moment. Explaining Cylon psychology can be frustrating. "Sometime between the First Cylon War and the Second Cylon War, when the Cylons had disappeared, they had obtained biological forms. Seven different human models, with many copies of each. They never told us how they obtained that kind of technology... until now. The rebel Cylons, the one who joined our Fleet, say it has something to do with another set of Cylons. The Final Five, they call them."

Giving the Doctor a look, she makes sure he's following along before continuing. "One of the Cylon models... he's called One, actually... he tampered with the other model's memories, so they wouldn't remember the Final Five, or ask questions about them. So... I think only One truly knows why we're fighting this war. Because he's the only one with all the answers."

[not_the_question]

Huh. Reverse Cybermen after all.

"And have you ever considered just... not fighting?"

Sure it'd lead to death, but death isn't the worst thing that can happen to someone.

[chiron_survivor]

She stares at him a moment before barking out a laugh. It's not like her, and it's startling enough that Bucky ruffles his feathers a little in surprise.

"I would love to not fight. Gods, you have no idea. Half the Cylons are on our side, if we could just... cut our losses and get away from the rest of them..."

Her moroseness nearly hides it, but there is still a wellspring of fear within her when she adds softly, "The Ones won't let that happen. And... the Fours and the Fives, too. They follow his orders now, and they'll never let us go without a fight."

[not_the_question]

"So you are slaves to this One? Since he has all the answers and he's not telling you all what you need to know."

That is not something he can help with, he doesn't think. At least not from here. Finally, he calls her on her little paper. It's not that he hadn't noticed earlier, it's that he needed to understand things first.

"What's that paper you keep folding?"

[chiron_survivor]

When he puts it like that, it does make it sound like One is holding all the cards. And so long as he safely hides behind his army of Centurions, he's untouchable.

She blinks when he asks about the paper, as if she'd forgotten she was holding it. "This?" She looks at him uneasily, then sighs and unfolds it. She's already told him plenty, and he's been considerate enough with her feelings...

It's a children's drawing of two stick figures holding hands. One is a woman with hair like Adia's. The other is a man in a purple suit. There is a red heart between them and a yellow sun above their heads.

Written over and over in the blank space is the number 5.

"That's me... and that's my ex-boyfriend, Caspar. He's a model Five Cylon, but I didn't know it when we were together. He was a sleeper agent... false memories." Her gaze lingers on his simply-drawn smile. "A little girl in the Fleet drew this for me. She's half-Cylon, half-human, the only one of her kind... I never told her about Caspar but she knew, somehow."

She compulsively starts to fold the picture again. "It's not... it's not relevant to Earth, not really, but..." Her voice catches. "It's one more thing that isn't coming true."

[not_the_question]

"You were going to be a family."

Maybe he's wrong. Maybe he should have phrased it as a question, but he made it a statement. Because that's how it sounded to him. Besides, why else would it be so precious to her?

"What happened to change things?"

[chiron_survivor]

She nods silently, biting her lip. The picture is just a folded up square again, but she stares ahead, still looking at it in her mind.

And then she gives him a heart-broken smile.

"I'm a microbiologist. So was Caspar. We were working aboard the Chiron, so when the Colonies were destroyed, we were unharmed. It was a confusing twenty-four hours... anyone who had made it to space was scattered all around the star system. We had to find Galactica and regroup before the Cylons attacked again."

The outline of one of the number fives is visible through the paper; she absently traces it with a finger. "His model was the first to be discovered as a Cylon. He, um... he held me hostage in one of our labs. He had turned on the failsafe so that it would take a while to open the doors. And then he... he killed himself. It was that or be captured. They would have shoved him out an airlock. If he was lucky."

It's a long moment before she speaks again.

"I learned later that Cylons can resurrect. They download themselves into a new body. I, um... I saw him again, when we were on New Caprica. He saved my life, but he wouldn't admit who he was... and now he's siding with the Ones. He's about as far away from me as he can get without being dying again."

[not_the_question]

What is this soap opera he's fallen into?

"Did you... fall in love with him before or after he held you hostage?"

Because that kind of matters. If it was before, well, okay, he can talk to that. If it was after, he might suggest massive amounts of therapy instead.

[chiron_survivor]

"Before," she says, giving him a strange look. Who the heck falls in love with someone after they've been taken hostage? "We were friends for three months. Best friends... a week before the Cylons attacked, he finally worked up the nerve to ask me out." She'll spare him the story of how he had flowers delivered to her quarters on her birthday. He doesn't seem like the sentimental type.

"He didn't hurt me when he dragged me into the lab..." Scared her sure, but it all happened so fast, she didn't have much time to react either way. "And he apologized immediately. I think he was running on auto-pilot when he did it."

[not_the_question]

Those who experience Stockholm Syndrome, that's who. He had to be sure. He nods as she tells her story.

"Good. That's good at lest. Might be better if you don't call it taken hostage in the future."

Because people who've experienced something like that, well, that means something very specific.

"Still, I can see how that would put a damper on the relationship."