Language LOL: Translator Malfunction

[rumham]

You know what's cool? Chatting with your pals. Reading the Internet. Navigating the roads because you can understand the Gods-damned street signs. You know what's not cool? Not being able to do any of that. By that metric, one might describe today in the Nexus decidedly uncool.

It's utterly without warning that the multiversal hub goes from automatic to manual translation. Shop signs, radio and television broadcasts, conversations on the streets between vendors and friends and businesspeople are suddenly a jarring cacophony of dissonant languages. Then there's the silence. Then there's the shouting. Turns out people get pissed off when nobody understands them!

Momentary chaos dies down as the average people of the Nexus come to grips with their new situation. Shopkeepers wait outside their stores and stands with expectant expressions, impatiently waiting for the translator to pull itself together and start working again.

Except...

It sort of doesn't.

No, it super doesn't.

Citizens of the Nexus, it would appear you're going to have to adjust...

((The temporary LANGUAGE LOL is now underway! It's freeform fun until you're done and participation is completely optional. Don't feel like this event should stop you from making threads which are unaffected by the LOL in the mean time. If you want your Language LOL'd character to interact with a non-LOL thread, please ask the OP if they want to play that dynamic first. For the OOC and organization post, GO HERE. ))

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

"It's the language of the Twelve Colonies, named after Caprica. I speak Leonisian, too. That's my native language, but I learned Caprican at such a young age that I'm fluent in both."

She's babbling a little, but she's nervous and grateful that someone can understand her. The mishmash of characters on the Nexus terminal has her spooked, a visual reminder of the cacophony around them.

"That's amazing. I'm sorry she can't translate for you now. Is she working all right otherwise?"

[not_the_question]

"More the merrier when it comes to languages, I say."

Well, five billion times over, he'd agree.

"She seems to be. She and I still understand each other, which I'm grateful."

Because if they couldn't, it would all be a rather big mess.

[chiron_survivor]

She smiles in agreement. "I wish I could learn more..." With an awkward laugh, she adds, "Might have to if this doesn't fix itself soon."

Oh, that's curious. She always thought of the TARDIS as a ship, not something sentient. If she's understanding him correctly. "What's that like? That sort of connection?"

[not_the_question]

He doesn't know how to describe it. There aren't words in most languages to explain it.

"Just like any other telepathic connection." He pauses "Which probably doesn't mean much if you don't know what it's like to have a telepathic connection."

[chiron_survivor]

"I don't," she admits. "Although..." She touches the back of her head, as if feeling something there, then looks up at the Doctor. He's probably seen and heard all sorts of strange things during his travels. What's one more?

"I don't know if you heard about what happened at the Halloween Party, but, um... a being called a Great One make contact with my mind and gave me a blessing. I don't know entirely what it means yet, but I have been able to communicate with someone who has a similar blessing. It was..." A small breath escapes her. The Doctor's right, there are no words in her language to explain it. "It was strange to understand something at its fundamental level. I'm still trying to figure out what it all means."

[not_the_question]

He hangs his head. "I got as many people out as I could. But I never heard everything that happened."

He will from Harley, just not yet.

"Only with that one other person? Are you sure it's a blessing?"

[chiron_survivor]

"I can tell you what happened. To the best of my knowledge, anyway." She smiles reassuringly. "It was... well, it's not an experience I would have chosen for myself, but I came out of it okay. It was very kind of you to help the others left behind."

She chuckles softly in response to his question. "You sound like a friend of mine... but yes, I'm sure it was intended as a blessing." Her gaze drops and she tugs at the fringe on her winter scarf. "The fact that the only person who knows exactly what it means is Micolash... well, perhaps not so much. But it hasn't put me in any danger. If anything, I think I understand the world around me a little more than I used to."

[not_the_question]

He takes in her expression. Reassuring, but not convincing.

"It's all right, I'm sure I'll be able to piece it together as I talk to the others."

He considers her last comment. "Yet..."

Because he fully expects it to cause her trouble down the road. Telepathic abilities aren't something he takes lightly.

[chiron_survivor]

"You sure?" She bites her lip, thinking back to her friends who were also caught in the Nightmare. Their scars ran much deeper than hers, literally and figuratively. "I don't know how many of us are willing to talk about it."

She smiles wryly at his expression of concern. "If it make you feel any better, a friend of mine gave me another blessing, one that hides me from ethereal beings. So on the off chance that my new abilities attract the wrong attention, I have until the spring to worry about it."

[not_the_question]

He nods his head. "Pretty sure."

You don't get to be as old as him and not experience horrors. That alone helps him to get people to talk. Worst case, he'll just pop back in the TARDIS and watch. (Who's he kidding, he can't do that or he'll get himself involved.)

"It's not ethereal beings that worries me. Telepathy is... a double-edged sword. It allows you to see, but also allows you to be seen."

The only reason why he didn't pick up on her ability is because they haven't touched.

[chiron_survivor]

She shrugs a little. If he doesn't want to ask her, that's fine. "If you come across a mage named Viatorus, he'd be the best at explaining what happened. He's the one who freed us all." Not that she's seen him since then... there's that guilty look again. She ought to send him another text, but it'll have to wait until this translator business is sorted out.

"I'm not telepathic," she replies. "It's only this blessing that lets me experience it with certain people. It's a... a rune. A word from the language of the Great Ones. It's a complete understanding of that word and all it contains, but only when you share it with someone else who has a rune..."

Or maybe more than that. The Doctor seems so concerned... "I wouldn't want to invade someone else's privacy, but I don't mind being seen. I've been told that I'm practically an open book anyway..."

[not_the_question]

He rolls his eyes. "It's still telepathy. Doesn't matter how you define it, how it works, or with whom you can share it."

He's concerned with reason. He's not so much worried about what she might do to others as he is what others can do to her.

"You've never had such mental abilities before. Telepathy can be very dangerous, especially if you have the gift and no defences when others try to use it against you."

He's tempted to give her an example, but that's not his style when it comes to this.

[chiron_survivor]

Well, he's got a point there. This psychic expansion of her mind is very new to her.

"What would you recommend, then? I tried talking about it with Micolash, but..." She looks away and sighs. Whether he deserves the label or not, the Nightmare scholar is the very definition of dangerous. Even she knows that he's not the right sort of person to get help from.

[not_the_question]

"A tutor. Someone to show you the ropes, teach you both uses and defences."

No, he's not offering. She asked for his suggestion, he's giving it to her.

"It's best if you and this person have a mutual level of trust."

[chiron_survivor]

"A tutor..." She thinks about it a little, then seems to relax. "I can think of a couple different people who could help. One of them checked me over right after the Nightmare, actually, when I told her that I had a psychic connection with a Great One."

Don't worry, Doctor, she's not going to ask you. She doesn't even know that you can do that, except with your TARDIS.

"Trust is not something I have trouble with," she says, smiling faintly. "Which you'd probably say is part of my problem. But you don't have to worry about me. Things are good for me now."

[not_the_question]

"Oh yes, good. A phrase I find is usually followed by death."

Sorry, that's his life. It's sometimes unfortunate and sad, but it is what it is.

[chiron_survivor]

She winces a little at his pessimism, then reminds herself that he's speaking from his own experience. Which must be terribly sad, if that's how things work for him -- happiness snatched away at a moment's notice.

"Doesn't that make it all the more reason not to worry, then? To simply enjoy what you have, when you have it?"

[not_the_question]

"Who says you can't enjoy things and respect that some things are dangerous?"

It is his life. He can't have it both ways, but he does try, when he can.

[chiron_survivor]

She smiles a little. "Fair enough. I have a tendency to let my worries get out of control. Just trying to avoid that for once."

Her PINpoint buzzes, and she pulls it out of her pocket to read the message. "Oh. My boyfriend's in the shopping district... sounds like it's pretty bad, there, most of the stores are closed." She bites her lip. "I should go to him. Will you excuse me, Doctor?"

[not_the_question]

"If you want to leave worries aside, make it something you shouldn't worry about, like the translation thing. But guard your mind, lest it come under someone else's control."

He watches as she answers her device. Interesting. Thought she said all things were not translating. But rather than press, he gives a nod of the head.

"Until we meet again."

With that, he turns and starts to walk in a different direction.