nexus_crossings | Some Reassembly Required

Some Reassembly Required

There’s an open, grassy area on the edge of the Wilds, some distance from the most popular Nexus parks where people are enjoying their picnics and centaur polo and so forth. It’s a good place to go if you want slightly more peace and quiet - or in Blaze’s case, a good open space in which to make a lot of noise. The robot soldier has a few small crates out on the grass. One of them she’s sitting on; the others are being used as tables which hold a small array of tools and components and blocks of metal. She’s working on modifying a pair of heavy armored boots much like the pair she’s wearing, refitting the soles and reinforcing their structure. Her Ghost hovers beside her, inspecting a blueprint spread out atop one of the boxes. The little bot is spinning his pointy shell back and forth as if concerned, but Blaze pays him no heed.

“So,” she says, speaking up while she works. “People change. Some of us change more than others. Sometimes we don’t notice how it happens. Sometimes,” she yanks out a component and chucks it down beside her, “we don’t get a say. So what part of yourself would you want make sure you held on to? What’s the part you’d want to be remembered?” She pauses, then looks up at the nearest people. “And, hey, anyone got some spare explosives?"

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It's the look of a man who isn't constantly scanning the horizon for trouble, although he does raise an eyebrow at Blaze's question. She's being a little more pessimistic than he expected. Isn't that his role to play in the conversation?

"Both, although I'd like to think that if I had my memories wiped, I'd simply fall in love with her all over again." Not that he'd ever want to test that hypothesis; after a (short) lifetime of false memories, his real ones are all the more important. "Why do you consider it a mixed blessing? Better to feel something than nothing. And spite takes a lot more work to maintain."

Ghost may have decided to sit out the conversation for now, but the little pig accompanying Caspar has other plans. She runs over to the box he's hovering above and stares up at him eagerly. Hello, weird-looking magnemite!

Blaze has to take a moment to find the words to get at what she's thinking. She reaches over for a mini plasma torch and starts sealing in a spinmetal layer. "How long do organic Cylons live? You got any idea?"

Ghost, meanwhile, drifts lower to say hello to the piglet. She is adorable after all, even if she is bigger and decidedly bouncier-looking than he is.

"We age at the same rate as humans," he replies automatically. That vague look of confusion persists a moment longer before he realizes what Blaze is getting at by asking. "Ah... okay. I get it. That's not an issue for me. Resurrection was a kind of immortality, but with the technology lost and all the hubs destroyed, it's irrelevant."

He also has no intention of outliving Adia, but he knows that's too dark to say out loud. His gaze follows the light of the torch, absently following her work. "What about you? What's your lifespan?" And why is that suddenly bothering her now?

The piglet smiles and wags her springy tail. "Tep!" she says cheerfully. The plasma torch catches her eye and two tiny flames appear from her nostrils. Look, Ghost, she can do that, too!

"Princess, take it easy. Let the 'bot work." Caspar sounds equal parts exasperated and amused. You're supposed to be helping me pick out a picnic spot, remember? Adia will be here soon."

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd make things simpler." She's glad she had more time than that, though, given her issues. If her creators saddled her with recurrent cognitive breakdown at least they let her live long enough to find a solution.

"Until I find something that can kill me." Answering Caspar's question is almost an afterthought. "Neither an Exo nor a Guardian's ever died of old age." The piglet's flames catch her eye and she puts down the welder, reaching out an armored hand to the little pokemon. Ghost is expressing his curiosity in his own way: by scanning her. "Hey, little one. You offering to help?"

More important, can Blaze pet her? She offers Princess some headscratches, then looks back up at Caspar. "So. Is he dead?"

"It's the same for Centurions. Their physiology isn't as complex as yours, though." He never thought to ask one how they felt about that, living eternal. He's not sure how to ask Blaze, either, so he's grateful when her focus switches to his pokémon companion and they can both let the subject drop for now.

Princess oinks an affirmative, her nostrils glowing like embers. Unfortunately, her nose flames aren't nearly hot enough to replace Blaze's plasma torch. Disappointed, she grunts and settles for scratches instead. She's warm, but not unbearably so, and her fur is coarse and wiry. Ghost will likely pick up on the same facts with his scan. (More if he's bothered to download a pokédex at some point.)

"Yeah, he is." There's no pause of confusion before he speaks this time. He knows who she's referring to. "He managed to leave an even bigger problem in his wake, but at least he isn't a threat anymore." He frowns briefly. "I probably should have texted you after it happened, sorry. You want the whole story, or just the highlights?"

"Tell us everything," Ghost insists, floating closer to listen. "Is Adia all right?"

"He wouldn't be wandering round here otherwise, Ghost." Blaze tickles the Tepig's ears and nods up at Caspar. "But I want to know how it went down, too."

"She's fine," he's quick to reassure Ghost. "Didn't get a scratch on her. She'll be here soon if you want to ask her yourself."

He finds a sturdy-looking crate to sit on, putting the folded blanket down first to provide a cushion. "I don't know where the hell to start. There was a festival in the Plaza not that long ago. A spring "revelry". Except it was a front for some psycho witch to bring a god of chaos into the Nexus. Jeff -- that was his real name -- was working with her, but tried to back out at the end. He ended up getting possessed by the god. That's when I showed up."

Only in the Nexus can he say that and have it make any sense. Or, who knows, maybe getting possessed by a malevolent deity is completely normal everywhere but his own universe.

"Adia was locked up in an empty storage room in a temple. so I got her out. The god cut off our escape routes and challenged me to a duel, but when I shattered his sword, it broke the curse that he had put on the Plaza."

That's right: Caspar saved the Nexus ~~and all he got was this lousy t-shirt~~. Princess oinks happily at the ear tickle, then gives Caspar a reproachful look. He's leaving out the best part!

"Oh, yeah, Jeff's pokémon were there, too, but they helped me instead of him. I guess loyalty doesn't extend to a trainer while he's possessed."

“Heard about that,” she notes when he brings up the revel. Except she didn’t hear exactly what went down aside from things getting out of hand and people getting violent. They could guess it wasn’t normal, of course, because what occurs normally in the Nexus? But the reports are mixed and spotty, the damage hard to piece together, and everything seemed have settled down all right.

But she’s gripping the cutter too tight as she listens. She has duties beyond (if not above) patrolling the Nexus just in case. There’ve been reasons for her absence the last while. It’s hard to tell herself, just now, that those reasons were good enough…

“Hold up a second. You went up against a god?” Her head snaps up, eyes bright in surprise. She’s honestly impressed- and more to the point, keen to hear the rest of the story. “What kind of god? You get his name? How’d you fight him?” It’s important to ask, too. Dark gods with a thing for swords are the kind of thing Guardians have far too much reason to take an interest in.

If it helps any, Caspar doesn't seem to show resentment for Blaze not being there. If he holds any sort of grudge, it's towards the Nexus in general for not making goddamn sense and letting ridiculous nonsense like this happen far too often. Adia's safe, and that's what matters.

(It doesn't hurt that she's safe directly because of him, either. Hooray for not failing her when it was most important!)

"What, like it's hard?" He grins briefly to acknowledge his sarcasm, but the levity fades once he thinks back to the battle. "He called himself Nyarlahotep, the Crawling Chaos, and he talked a lot of shit, but in the end he was still stuck in Jeff's body so he couldn't go full Eldritch Horror on me." He frowns to himself, absently rubbing a shoulder. "We were pretty evenly matched, strength-wise. I think I would have eventually worn him down, but his sword was what was causing the AV field to fail, so that's what I concentrated on."

Edited 2018-06-24 01:53 (UTC)

"Nyarlahotep," she repeats thoughtfully, the name saved for later. Armored fingers drum against her knee guards. "No-one we knew before."

"This possession trick is new to us," Ghost observes quietly. "But I've heard multiple references to the phenomenon from other universes."

"It's fucked up," is Blaze's opinion. "At least it's limiting. Still a hell of a job stopping his vessel short, Caspar."

It's something of a relief to know that possession isn't a thing where Blaze and Ghosts are from. Just robots and aliens for them, as nature intended. "It's new to me, too," he admits reluctantly. "It's like a bad horror movie... I really can't stand this magical mumbo jumbo sometimes..."

Blaze's compliment breaks him out of his disdainful grousing. He blinks at her, then drops his gaze, fiddling with a leather-woven charm around his wrist. "Thanks," he says quietly. When's the last time a sentient robot told him he did a good job? Uh, never. The praise feels strange and pleasant, and he struggles not to blush over it.

The soft buzzing of his PINpoint is a welcome distraction. He pulls it out of his pocket to take a look at the screen, Tepig trotting over so she can sneak a peek, too. "Adia's done at the lab," he says. "You want her to swing by?"

"Not all the magic's so bad." Blaze looks at her hands, then chuckles at Caspar. "I'll bet Adia's told you the same a few times over."

Speaking of which, Ghost spins at the question. "Yes- um, if she's nearby. It would be good to see her."

Caspar smirks. "She's done more than tell me," he replies, but instead of elaborating, he nods at Ghost's query. "She's only a teleport away. I was supposed to be looking for a picnic spot for us, that's why I'm out here."

The relative quiet of this area of the Wilds is far more appealing than the busier parks in the Nexus.

He texts his coordinates to Adia and lets her know that he ran into Blaze and Ghost. She appears a moment later, carrying a large straw tote. Summer on Atlantis has been kind to her, giving her skin a healthy glow. She smiles at Caspar and Tepig, then turns her attention to the other two bots. When was the last time she has seen the pair? It feels like it has been far too long.

"Hi, Blaze. Hi, Ghost." She sets down her tote, which Tepig immediately begins to snuffle. "How are you two doing?"

The way Blaze snorts at that, Caspar really doesn't have to elaborate. She knows humans well enough. Fortunately for everyone, she's disinclined to make any jokes about it today. Besides, Adia's there in a few moments, and Ghost would scold her if she made their friends uncomfortable.

"Hey, Adia. It's been a while." Not for the first time, between her duties and all the problems that used to restrict Adia's movements. But Blaze has been so deliberately buried in her work these past months, and so much has changed, that it feels like much longer than a few months since she's seen most of her friends. Still, they seem to have come out of it well. "You're looking good. Life with both feet on the ground must suit you."

"Caspar just told us about the festival," Ghost says quietly. "We're sorry we weren't there to help."

"But glad you didn't need us. Sounds like Caspar's got more heroism in him than he thought."

"It has been a while," she agrees, a bit of guilt creeping into her expression. Long absences are par for the course in the Nexus. It's the one thing she hates about it, even more than the unpredictable bending of reality. She laughs a bit at her friend's assumption. "It must. There are some days that I miss being in space, despite everything, but life on Atlantis has been like a dream."

Ghost gets a warm, reassuring smile. She steps over to lightly pat one of his points. "We can't be there for everything," she tells him. "Besides, I think you've both been busy on your world...?" She hasn't forgotten Blaze's search for the rogue Guardians.

"I do not," Caspar grouses at the same time Adia proudly replies, "Doesn't he, though?" She looks over at the Cylon in amusement while he rolls his eyes. "You were very brave, Cas. Did you tell them about what happened afterwards?"

"Not yet, no."

Tepig sniffs at the tote and oinks. Hey, weren't they supposed to be having a picnic? She's hungry!

"Why don't you spread out the blanket," she suggests to Caspar, who gets off the crate obligingly. "Blaze, Ghost, do you mind if we have our picnic here? You're not doing anything, um... explosive, are you?"

"Um, yes. We have. It's been... complicated." Ghost looks up at his Guardian. He's not going to say anything unless and until she gives him his cues on what can be shared.

"Yeah. Yeah." They've been extremely preoccupied. And now Blaze is slightly distracted by the rare task of figuring out how much she wants to say, because although the business with the Sunbreakers is no real secret (not as far as she's concerned), that's only one of the matters that have consumed their attention. The other... well, she's never hidden the fact of her reboots, but discussing them with Adia and Caspar would be infinitely more uncomfortable now she knows their cause.

Better to leave that all out, she decides.

Adia's question seems to snap her attention more fully to the present. "Huh? Oh. Well, nothing's supposed to explode yet. Gonna be at least a couple hours before I'm ready to load the charges." She pats the boot in her lap, as if this is an explanation. "You'll be fine until then."

It doesn't matter that it's two robots -- one of which only has a single "eye". Adia recognizes that look for what it is. She's not going to press for details, although she does little to hide her concern. "You'll let me know if it gets uncomplicated?" she says hopefully. Things worked out between humans and Cylons, after all. There may come a time when the past can stop haunting Blaze's world, too.

Caspar busies himself with spreading out the blanket, Princess helping by tugging a corner here and there to make it even. "Great," he says casually, before looking up sharply at Blaze. "Hold on. You were asking about spare explosives for your boots?" He doesn't know whether to be affronted or impressed. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"It shouldn't be complicated." Blaze gives an irritated grunt. There's nothing she can do about it. She picks up her tools, the better to have something in her hands. "I found a route to the Sunbreakers, that's the simple part. I'm going to go take up their power." If she can. If she withstands it. "After that, I don't know what happens. Not sure it really matters."

She's far too close not to take this quest to its conclusion.

At Caspar's question she looks up, amused. Of course her boots, why did you think she had these, Caspar? "Best case, a major acceleration boost when I charge. Worst case, a few hours of fun and noise. Been a while since I had time to play around."

"You met them?" she asks, before she can help herself. Whoops, what was that about not pressing for details? "Sorry," she says sheepishly. "But... um, that's good. That you'll be able to learn their special ability. Do you think they're at all interested in returning to Earth...?"

Caspar doesn't know a thing about what they're talking about. But that doesn't matter, because explosives strapped to boots is far more arresting, attention-wise. "A few hours of fun and noise, huh? And how long to rebuild your feet? You'd be better off with a propulsion system. You don't already have something like that?"

The conversation gets a small shake of her head from Adia and a vaguely amused smile. Caspar is a little too good at being a worrywart when it's someone he actually likes. She sets the straw tote on the spread out blanket and removes a few small stainless steel containers. One she pops open right away and offers to Princess. It's full of red, ripe cherry tomatoes, which the pokémon gobbles up eagerly, tail wagging.

"I fought beside one. Didn't get a conversation, but it was a pretty memorable introduction." There's a mix of frustration and admiration in her voice. As far as she's concerned the Sunbreakers are amazing, brave and unstoppable and terrifying. If only they weren't so blasted difficult. "I don't see them coming back any time soon. Think I'll be lucky if they talk to me next time."

Ah, well. It's hard to be annoyed when Caspar's making her chuckle.

"I didn't know you cared, Caspar," she teases, because Blaze is the sort who can't resist that. It's sweet that he's concerned, but she's reminded that she really needs to make sure she has the immortality talk with all her friends. If she keeps forgetting she could scare someone one of these days.

She holds up a finger. One. "To answer your first question, about five seconds if Ghost is on his game." Two. "As for your second: no. Not the kind of hard and fast burst like I'm thinking. I've got a thrust pack that helps focus a boost when I jump but it's not the same."

Fought beside. Not fought against. This is an important distinction, one that Adia mulls over as she opens the other containers. There are other fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, some meats and cheeses, and a flat, round bread. Just enough for two people, but considering how little Caspar eats, it's plenty.

"They know you're out there and you're interested, at least," she says, hoping to ease Blaze's frustration. "It doesn't sound like they've given up fighting off the aliens, either."

If Caspar seemed embarrassed being called a hero, he's downright abashed by Blaze's teasing. "You'd do a piss-poor job of patrolling the Nexus if you blew yourself up," he retorts, sitting down on the blanket in a huff. He reaches for a piece of cheese, pointing it at Blaze once she's done talking. "You need a directional burst, then. A way to channel the explosion. I'm sure Ghost has way better uses of his time, even if it's only five seconds."

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Some Reassembly Required

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