video/action » un:millerlite

[pampa]

[ miller got with the program... quick. he wakes up near the observation deck and snaps up the communicator that won't stop chirping at him and julie's necklace that's also within his grasp - he rubs his fingers over the beads before pocketing it. jumpsuit... magboots. back to square one. god, he hates space. in his fugue at first he thinks it's julie's voice, but it's not. and just as quickly he pieces together that this isn't eros. he sneers at the foreign insignia on the wall and starts scrolling through menus until the stupid recording stops. he logs in after a few different username kickbacks and pulls up a video feed. no time like the present to figure this shit out, right?

a surly-looking man with a (fake) mohawk appears on the network, the giant window of space his backdrop. he hasn't actually looked through said window yet though. ]

You tried to save the world? Yeah, okay. I was just risking my neck to save the whole goddamn Solar System, but I guess. You know, fine, that's great, I can always take a detour. [ he does not look like it's fine OR great okay. ] So what is this? Dusters, Earthers... I know this is an Inner operation. No way Belters are in the kidnapping people business. Unless it's profitable. And let me tell you right now, I'm about as useless a pickup as they come.

[ miller scrubs a hand over his mouth and turns, finally, to the bay window. concern flickers over his face, maybe fear too. but when he turns back to the video his expression is clear. he can't let this distract him, he has a job to finish. ]

Can I get a headcount at least? I'm sure I'm the only Belter on this rust-bucket too. [ he smooths two fingers along the seam of the window, making a little huffing sound when it comes back dirty. ] Well, here's something that might interest you Earthers: Eros is on a collision course for your precious blue globe, so hook me up with an escape pod. A frickin' catapult, I don't care. I was busy, you don't get to just take grand gestures like that away from a guy. [ okay this is edging towards counterproductive so he just groans and shakes his head, ending the feed after a terse: ] Miller out.

[ if anyone comes by the deck, he'll be just as grumpy, looking over the stars and wondering why he doesn't recognize a single one. miller rubs at his eyes, his free hand reaching into his pocket to touch the necklace - oddly the only thing they didn't take from him. and yet it was the only thing of value he was carrying other than a vac suit and a goddamn nuke. when you get close enough, you'll probably hear him muttering nonsense to himself but the gist of it is: ] I hate space.

Comments

[pampa]

This girl I met - Kamala - she seemed pretty damn sure there was no colony on Ceres. Eros, Mars... none of it. She said she only knew where they were because she aced Astronomy class.

[donkeyballs]

Miller, almost every damn person I talk to has said they came from the twenty first century.

Hell, all Rogue remembered about Mars was the Curiosity, Spirit, and Opportunity Rovers.

[spinals]

i'm sorry about that
the water rationing i mean
that's tough

( no comment on the nickname )

[pampa]

[ jesus christ. time to down this glass too, that's enough nursing it. he sets it aside though, feeling his vision go splotchy as the vertigo kicks in. there it is. that's the stuff. ]

So we're from the future. [ spooky hand motions go here ] If not for this junk heap, then most of the people on it.

[donkeyballs]

Yeah. Accidentally broke a few hearts, I think, lettin' people know.

But a lot of what they remember sure as hell don't line up with the history I know.

Take Mako, for example - she's a pilot. But she don't pilot ships, she pilots giant fighting robots. To fight aliens. On earth. In the twenty-first century.

[ It blew his mind, brother. ]

[pampa]

So it's like... a really heavy-handed Mandela effect, right? [ he snorts, humorless and managing to sound like the simple expelling of air took a real effort on his part. painful, almost. ] Alternate realtities. That shit is for Sci Fi TV.

[donkeyballs]

Yeah. Though god damn, is it ever above my pay grade.

Hurts my head just tryin' to think about it.

[ Which is why he is just going to pour himself another glass, now. ]

[pampa]

You aren't kidding. [ he definitely already has a headache, whether that's from the drinks or conversations he's had is another matter entirely though. ] At least we're still qualified to get blackout drunk.

[ miller: always looking on the bright side ]

[pampa]

Nothing to be sorry for
that's just life for a Belter
nothing's ever good or fair but it's Enough

[tumang]

[ Amos tsks, tongue between his teeth. Miller's never been to Earth, he's not seen it. The grime, the pollution sticking to every cell of every human being that isn't part of the .001%. The corruption, seeping through every single interaction because everyone needs so much.

Miller hasn't seen it. 30 billion people, and Amos isn't sure he'd save a single one of them. But this is why he doesn't make the decisions. That's why he isn't asked. ]

Hm. Well. Gotta jet, Miller.

[spinals]

okay

( it doesn't sound entirely unfamiliar. )

[pampa]

[ he just barely manages to hold back the eye roll. ]

See you around, Earther.

[pampa]

exactly it's okay
mediocre when we're lucky

[tekimetexeng]

Here you are. Could be worse, honestly, that planet looks big enough to crush folks like us if we'd been brought down to it. Then again, I've been up here every night and haven't seen any lights on the dark side. It may well be uninhabited.

[ She has no idea why anyone would bother maintaining a geosynchronous orbit around an uninhabited planet, this is just the facts as best she knows them. ]

...Miller, what's the last thing you remember?

[pampa]

[ he sniffs, a bemused sound that's somehow simultaneously devoid of humor. ] Bones like chalk. [ and now they're already onto the good stuff. already sensing it isn't the answer she wants, he answers, as ever, candidly. ]

I was lighting the first charge on Eros with that kid-- Diogo.

[ go ahead tell him he's wrong, he's already expecting that. at least that part is familiar. ]

[tekimetexeng]

[ Not wrong exactly -- that did happen, and if it's the last thing he remembers then technically he's answered her with the truth. Thing is, so much more happened. Naomi presses her lips together, uncertain how to broach this when she doesn't actually have an explanation for the disparity. He already looks like he's braced for something, though. ]

There's a bit you seem to have forgotten, but it doesn't quite line up.

[pampa]

Because everything else in this place lines up real neat. [ his mouth presses in a thin line, but he'll be more willing to listen to naomi than he was to amos. he likes her too, almost inexplicably so. ] Well, lay it on me, kid. Whatever it is, can't be weirder than whatever the hell is goin' on here already.

[spinals]

there's got to be some good stuff now and then

[pampa]

everything good in the belt is brought there
imported
that's all we are is a port for earth and mars
nothing belongs to us.
not even us

[morphogenia]

Paygrade...? [Kamala pauses to think about it before snapping her fingers. She knows this reference!!!!] Oh! You're a cop, right? Or a detective? That would actually be super useful right about now. I mean I am on the honor roll at school, but you know I'm not exactly trained in investigating kidnappings especially not my own. This is exactly what we need!

[pampa]

[ he gives a little wince at the snap, shrugging a shoulder. ] Used to be, kid. Ironically enough, i was on a kidnap job when I got let go.

[ he's never been exactly what anyone needed. he really wishes she wouldn't say that ]

[spinals]

i'm sorry
good moments, then
you can't import moments

[pampa]

[ he thinks of muss and sema and all the idiots he left behind on ceres. all his moments are long passed, they don't feel tied to that place anymore. even if he weren't dead, he doesn't feel like he could go back anyway, so what she's saying is actually a nice thought. it doesn't suck, anyway. ]

i guess even an asshole like me has a few things rattling around worth remembering

[ it's his version of a thank you. thanks for helping me remember that, moongirl. ]

[morphogenia]

[Kamala offers a sympathetic look despite having no idea how good or bad he was at said job.] Oh no. Was it like on those cop shows? Where you didn't close a case fast enough or got too invested? Where I come from it's usually budget cuts.

[pampa]

[ he snorts. budget cuts. ] All of Ceres is one big budget cut, but in my case... in Julie's case, I was gettin' too close to the truth. Some people at the top didn't like that.

[ but it just meant he was right to become so invested, as she put it. he pulls out julie's necklace from his pocket and looks down at the beads in his hand. ]

Sometimes doing the right thing doesn't make you very popular. Especially when they're used to you rolling over.