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

[gadgetqueen]

Her PINPoint does that light thing again - it seems to have no screen at all - and she nods. "Not a problem. The place I settled, I started a company that got really big, and our corporate motto is "The world is worth saving, so let's do it." This is just another facet of that. Believe me, if I thought I could find a place easily for 40,000 shellshocked refugees - and let's be honest with each other, with everything that's happened, that's basically the state you're in - I'd just bring them there. But this way... well, those worlds will be easy to set up on - lots of resources to work with until you get things cleared enough for farming. And if you need some help, I'm sure we can figure something out."

At that question, she smiles. "Time in the Nexus is strange. I tried mapping the place once, and it kind of fell apart quickly. Sometimes what's three months for you is longer, or shorter, here. It's been more than twenty years since I found the Nexus , but I once left a clock here as an experiment and when I came for it, four months later, it showed a year had passed. And then I did it again, four months for me, three weeks."

[chiron_survivor]

Her smile brightens a touch at her company's slogan. The world is indeed worth saving -- or rather, her people and their quest for a place to call home. It's why she bothered to ask her question in the Nexus.

But she's certainly not going to argue with Eiko's assessment of the Colonial refugees. "We're in a bad way," she agrees quietly. "We have been ever since the Occupation. Looking for Earth masked some of that, but..." She sighs. Building back her own hope is one thing, but the entire Fleet? "I'd thought about that," she admits. "Just bringing people to the Nexus, but... well, a jump directly into another universe means less risk of Cylons following than coming here."

And, as she's learned recently, the Nexus is not the safe haven she once thought it was.

She listens attentively to Eiko's answer. "So... this could be the same Nexus for me? Just that a lot more time has passed here than where I'm from?" It's reassuring, despite there being no obvious rhyme or reason to how much time passes. It means that she may see old friends again.

[gadgetqueen]

"Well, if you feel comfortable enough, I'm willing to show up and talk to whoever you feel needs to make the decision. If you want to, like I said, we can rig something to bring your whole fleet to a place I can confirm reasonable safety and survival chances. I don't mind helping - when you have the Nexus and knowledge about it, you can move a lot of stuff around." She gives a shifty look. "I made money buying something in one universe, then taking it to a universe where the source of it was extinct and selling it for gold." Then she shares a conspiratorial wink.

"And yeah. I ran into a friend of mine, and she had two kids when I only knew her with one, and looked great. I diagrammed it once and it gave me a little headache. People come and go, and you'll see people once, or dozens of times. I found my wife here, so I am an example of how well that can work out."

[chiron_survivor]

The story surprises her, but only a little. "I thought I was being clever by bringing back tissues and hot chocolate packets," she jokes weakly, before her expression grows serious again at Eiko's offer of assistance. "That's very generous of you. I'll... I'll need to see how my people react to news of the Nexus in the first place."

It does not matter how many credentials Eiko has, she knows that it will take a lot for either President Roslin or Commander Adama to trust a stranger from another universe.

"I made a few very dear friends before the Nexus changed. It's nice to know that it's a possibility I might see them again." Her smile returns, albeit subdued, when Eiko mentions her wife. "I was a bridesmaid in a wedding for a couple who met in the Nexus. I think it's sweet that people are able to find love here, despite differences between their worlds."