video, un: littlealbatross

[soulmakingsound]

[What the viewer sees first is hair. Long black hair obscuring the lens of the camera while River fiddles with it. The camera and the girl are both on the floor, and she leans back eventually, sitting against the foot of her bed while she talks.

She never looks directly at the camera.]

There are too many choices.

People talk about getting to go home. Going back to rebuild. I hear them in the halls, in their rooms. Making plans.

But what of the rest of us? The homeless. The lost. The ones who came after the dragon, who never settled.

I opened my eyes and there was snow. I walked where they told me to, stayed where they told me to, and that was easy. And now they give us choices.

Which train to take?

Which life to choose?

Comments

[soulmakingsound]

Why are you spangling stars? They are, by definition, already spangled. Further spangling seems unnecessary.

I don't know the best option yet. Further information is required before a decision can be reached.

[ukase]

A joke you clearly don't understand, so I won't bother to take the time to explain it to you.

Do you always sound vaguely like a robot, or are you doing those new-fangled role-playing things I hear kids do?

[soulmakingsound]

[She's well aware of her more or less flat affect. Not a lot of variation in pitch or tone, not for a normal every day conversation. Not unless she gets excited about something.

Or upset.

So she simply shrugs and tilts her head a little at the words on the screen.]

Perhaps I'm a piece of technology more advanced than you can comprehend.

Or maybe you are. You are typing, after all. I can't see the person behind the screen.

[ukase]

Considering the technology I've seen, maybe not. Open your face panel and we'll be able to judge together.

I could be a ten-year-old girl. What if I'm naked?!

[soulmakingsound]

Doubtful. The suggestion, paired with the excess punctuation, suggests adolescent male. Or a grown man lacking in mental maturity.

[ukase]

Actually, full use of words and punctuation suggests a geriatric, as they don't understand the concept of text speak.

Sad about the no-face-plate thing though. I'm used to disappointment from the younger generation thankfully.

[soulmakingsound]

Proper use of punctuation would, but excessive use suggests someone younger. A question mark and exclamation point in conjunction is unnecessary.

Interrobangs exist for a reason.

I am not a robot. Just a girl who speaks a certain way.

[ukase]

You are the worst grammar check I've ever seen. Are you actually a dictionary, thesaurus and grammar program all in one? Because I hate that stupid talking paperclip. You're much more interesting.

You're not a girl either. You're a young woman. Use the proper term.

[soulmakingsound]

Terminology is often so dependent upon legality. Eighteen is a tricky age, and laws change from city to city, planet to planet.

I choose the term that feels like it fits right. Girl settles on my shoulders more easily than young woman does. Less cumbersome to say, too.

I do not hold papers together very well.

[ukase]

God I know. I remember 18 so well. Choosing what to do with your life, trying to avoid disappointment and teen pregnancy. It's a shitty year, especially since you likely aren't even old enough to drink alcohol.

Young woman offers a sort of formality you clearly aren't used to. I picture 'girl' as a kid.

What do you hold together well then?

[soulmakingsound]

I think girl because circumstances denied me years where I would be considered girl. A desire to return to childhood, perhaps. Or a belated christening. A gap in maturation?

This requires further thought. [She turns to lie with her legs up on the bed, boots and all, so the top of her head is facing the camera.]

Statistically, very few things. Metaphorically speaking. The mental holding together, etcetera. My brain tends to rebel against me and itself. Exceedingly frustrating.

More literally speaking I'm trained in ballet. So I hold my balance very well.

[ukase]

Oh, do you need to have some warm milk and a belly rub? I mean, we can sit here and go over all your childhood-denying traumas, and I might even have a boo-hoo by the end of it. I also might be sleeping.

Okay, so balance, but you're apparently touched in the head, so that's all null and void. Sorry kid.

[soulmakingsound]

[Oh right, she needs to read his response. She tips her head back to look at the communicator, then settles for moving onto her stomach so as not to dizzy herself too much.]

I'd wonder if this was Jayne, but I don't think he can type. There would be a lot more misspellings.

The problem isn't physical, so I don't see how that would affect my balance at all. Are you touched in the head?

[ukase]

[She was a weird one. It was fascinating in its own way... like watching someone choke on gaseous poison maybe.]

I don't know who Jayne is, which means I can't tell if that is a compliment or not.

I am definitely not touched in the head. I have all my mental faculties in the right place doing what they should be.

[soulmakingsound]

Solidly encased within your skull is a wise place to store your mental facilities. Less chance of them escaping.

Jayne is a different sort. A carryover from the early homo habilis. Potentially a missing link between other animals and humans. Further research required.

[ukase]

With all my grey and white matter accounted for and all the connections still in place too. Aren't I lucky?

Let me guess: no woman, no kids, no actual responsibility. Thus, he's a normal male hopped up on his own ego and needs to be taken down a peg or two.

[soulmakingsound]

Luckier than most.

[She has to laugh because there has never been a more accurate description of Jayne.] He has Vera. His favourite gun.

Once we put him in charge of things while the captain was gone. It was terrible. [She lowers her voice to something gruff and vaguely masculine.]

You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here

[ukase]

Right, I know that type. Good with a gun, but no self-control on how or when to employ his strength.

I'd probably grind him under my boot if we met.

[soulmakingsound]

It would certainly make for interesting entertainment.

In the end, he was felled by a doctor. He was injured on the job, and Simon gave him something for the pain. With the addition of a mild sedative to make him significantly less annoying.

[ukase]

Of course he was. Muscle heads only consider other muscle heads a threat and in the end, it's the quiet ones you always have to watch out for.

[soulmakingsound]

Simon did consider becoming a villainous mastermind for a while. He was going to grow a very impressive mustache.

But he decided that investing in a volcano would take too much time and money, and in the end remained a doctor.

[ukase]

Volcano, huh? He sounds like a winner, but good thing he stuck to his day job.

Liquid magma isn't exactly easy to control and he could have been burned.