reverienet | Voice | UN: Johnson

[About three hours ago Daisy had received a message on her communicator and when she opened it she saw a video message from someone she never expected to see.

Lincoln Campbell, her dead boyfriend, in the Quinjet he had died in. There's an angry set to his mouth.

"I didn't want your destiny. You know that? You should've saved me. You should've found a way."

After that, the message cuts off.

Daisy had sat with that guilt for two years now, and it was still hard for her to get past it. So, unsurprisingly, this shakes her to the core. So much so that she goes to the bar just long enough to grab a bottle of whatever was closest before she's back in her room.

She's well through half the bottle when she sets her communicator to voice and speaks to anyone who might be listening.]

Has anyone received a message from someone back home? Someone that's not on the ship.

[~~Someone who's dead~~. She leaves out that part because she can't bring herself to say it out loud. Anyone that has heard her may notice how drunk she sounds. She at least had enough sense not to turn on the video option. Her eyes are red and swollen from how much she's been crying and even now she's struggling not to.]

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[It takes her longer than it should have to realize that Clara was offended by what she just said.]

I just don't understand how it works. Unless someone else is here from your home world?

[That's probably not helpful, is it?]

[She shakes her head, perplexed.]

No, no one. Why would that matter?

[Daisy was pretty far gone, but she knew better than to upset her even more.]

I don't know.

[Which isn't really a lie. There's still a lot she doesn't understand about the Framework.]

I'm too drunk to figure this out right now.

Well.

[Clara takes one more swig from the bottle, and then leans over the edge of the bed to deposit it on the floor.]

Maybe we don't want to push it.

[Daisy doesn't put up a fight over her putting the bottle on the floor. Even she knows her own limits. ~~She just happened to push way past them today~~. She doesn't play the video for Clara, but she does pull up the paused image of Lincoln on her communicator. She's never really talked about him with anyone who wasn't already there that day when he died. The paused video shows just how angry he looks.]

Do you see him too?

[In all honesty she's not sure what would be worse. If Clara doesn't see him and she's just losing it, or she does confirm that she can see the image of him too.]

[Clara looks at the screen, and then back up at Daisy, eyes focused and concerned.]

Yeah. I see him.

[That leaves Daisy feeling, well, she's not sure how to feel. She doesn't exactly feel relieved by the fact that she can see him too.]

The only explanation that makes sense to me is the Framework. Or it did. Now I don't know.

What's the Framework?

[She may be nearing drunk, but she's still fiercely curious.]

It's kind of like an artificial reality. Our minds were uploaded into it, and everything there felt and looked real. Except I knew better than to believe any of it the last time.

[She's doing her best to explain it, but she's not even sure if it makes any sense right now. Daisy looks to Clara, desperate for her to understand whatshe's implying.]

Now I don't know what's real and what isn't.

[And the thing is, Clara understands perfectly. Artificial reality isn't something she's unfamiliar with, not after the dream crabs. She's silent for a moment, mulling over her words through the haze of vodka, and then she reaches out and takes Daisy's hand between her own.]

This is real. [She laces their fingers together, squeezes.] I'm real. Everything you see around you right now is real.

[A tiny bit clumsy, but with all the impassioned focus of her usual speeches. Her thumb runs over Daisy's knuckles.]

I know I spout a lot of rubbish, trying to make people feel better, and I know you see right through that as well as anybody. But trust me this once, alright? You aren't back there. You right here, with me, and we're going to figure this out.

[Daisy looks down at their entwined hands, and as much she wants to believe what she's saying is the truth, it's hard for her to believe any of this is real. Daisy squeezes her hand regardless because even though it doesn't ground her, it does calm her. Not by much, but it was something.]

There's no way for you to prove it.

[And she's not saying that to be nasty towards Clara, but it's the truth.]

Maybe not.

[She understands. Not everyone believes in hope, and in faith, and in impossible heroes. Daisy has no reason to trust a word Clara's saying.]

But if you can't believe in anything else, try to believe in me. Wherever we are, I'm going to get you home, Daisy.

[It's not that Clara has given her a reason not to trust her, but Daisy doesn't trust easily.]

You can't promise that.

Voice | UN: Johnson

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