( text | un: sweetie )

[retrorsum]

Has anyone found a pod containing someone that was supposed to be dead? That they knew to be dead.

( river asks more out of curiosity than anything, out of trying to understand and gain more knowledge on the pods, on who and how they were brought here. she also can't deny that small piece of hope that comes with the question, of wanting to see someone that she couldn't (shouldn't) be able to see again )

Comments

[retrorsum]

( oh, that is a fun one )

Time isn't as linear as people believe.

( though alternate timestreams made things messier )

Considering I've spoken to someone from a different century to myself they may have been able to take us from our personal timestream rather than just at one collective point in time.

( which would only change things if someone knew they were dead )

[directives]

Far more fluid than people are willing to consider.

[ temporal theory was never her favorite, and she swore she would never get caught up in one of those godforsaken paradoxes, and yet — theory was now experience. at this rate, if voyager ever got home, the department of temporal investigations was going to keep her held up in debriefings for weeks on end. ]

A likely scenario. It would explain why people's recollections of home don't always sync up when awakened from stasis.

[retrorsum]

( oh if only river had known she had experience with it. she knows all about temporal theory. she's basically an expert )

I've met people that have been from my time stream but I hadn't met them before waking here.

( bless those personal links for letting them know they were from the same universe? )

Though I'm used to things not being in sync.

[directives]

I am now sharing a residence with those who are considered to be notable historical figures, whose counterparts played a vital role in the shaping of the world as I know it. Something of a surreal experience.

[ one starfleet would not approve of, but she's living in the glorious loophole that is having absolutely no clear regulations in place when it came to interacting with individuals from an alternate timeline that your timeline was responsible for the diversion of. she's using her best judgement, and they are welcome to court-martial her for it. that's far from the worst thing they could hold over her head. ]

Experience with temporal phenomena?

[retrorsum]

How notable?

( very curious and interested. even if she could do her own fair share of namedropping but she's leading in slowly. for once )

I'm a time traveller.

( temporal phenomena is also quite literally part of her dna )

[directives]

Incredibly notable.

[ humpback whales would still be extinct if not for their unconventional efforts. ]

In what capacity? [ forgive her, the only encounter she's had with a legitimate time traveller was not a pleasant one. ]

[retrorsum]

( sorry, janeway. though river is far more pleasant her actions can also be... questionable? )

That depends on what I need to do. I'm an archaeologist -- some of my travels are to see other worlds and times, others depend on the expedition.

( whatever she's hired for. sometimes an archaeological dig, sometimes to ruin someone terrible. sometimes it's to save the day )

[directives]

A time traveling archaeologist. I suppose that would be an easy way to find answers to some of the galaxy's greatest unsolved mysteries. Why dig through rubble when you can travel back to the past?

[retrorsum]

Exactly.

( as much as her husband likes to laugh at her for her career choice this woman gets it. and it had done a lot for her in her life )

Though I still love a tomb. Some days there's nothing better.

[directives]

Nothing like unraveling the secrets of the unknown the old-fashioned way.

[ speaking as one scientist to another. ]

[retrorsum]

Well, if I ever find some here I know who to invite along.

( be ready for that invite tomorrow then because there are definitely secrets here )

Though these concepts don't seem entirely unfamiliar to you.

[directives]

[ oh, she will be. especially if river manages to punch a hole in the fabric of space-time and find them a way out of here. ]

They aren't. I'm no stranger to time travel, and neither is my organization. There is an entire section of directives dedicated to handling temporal matters that we are expected to adhere to. It is flawed, however, and something of a constant work in progress. This scenario, for instance, doesn't exactly fall under any of those outlined rules and regulations.

[retrorsum]

( challenge accepted )

I'm glad I don't have anything so formal.

( though she did have rules -- her husband's. they worked and even if she broke them occasionally she hadn't messed anything up. nothing major anyway and there'd been the possibility of it.

it's not the first time that 'organisation' relating to space travel has come up here, though she's also familiar with the time agency in her own universe )

Though no one ever expects a situation like this when they make rules. If they did where would the excitement be?

( she's not being serious. but she also does enjoy things like this -- the mystery and adventure, digging into secrets and the running rather than being trapped by something )

[directives]

Excitement is precisely what the Department of Temporal Investigations aims to avoid.

[ they were going to hate her as much as they hated the kirk of her timeline. she wonders, idly, if she's broken his record yet. what was it, seventeen? twenty? something along those lines. ]

[retrorsum]

( which means river loves both of them? enjoy your new friend, she'll teach you all the best methods. and a few other things )

They're missing out. Maybe with that tomb I'll share something that your Department would stop you experiencing.

[directives]

[ good news! she gets to have cr with both of them in this maddening place! ]

There is no doubt in my mind that they would. I've never dealt with them, personally, but eventually I'll have to face their particular brand of music.

[retrorsum]

Unless you avoid them.

( which could be possible though river wasn't going to guarantee that her experiences would work for everyone. unique situations after all )

Though that's a problem for another day. We have to get out first.

( and potentially stop them from bringing other people here )

[directives]

Avoidance isn't a thing I'm big on.

[ at least not professionally. personally, however... ]

Agreed. However, that's easier said than done.

[retrorsum]

I have a long history of escaping from impossible situations.

( not to brag but she had yet to find something that defied that. and river had begun working the minute she'd woken up, gathering information, forming theories. she'd get something )

[directives]

So do I.

[retrorsum]

( she's in love )

River Song.

( since she'd yet to say hello properly )

It'll be nice to have someone to share ideas with.

[directives]

Kathryn Janeway.

[ as long as none of those ideas involve jeopardizing the lives of her crew (or kirk's). she's only playing along as with this whole scenario as much as she is for their sakes, to ensure that they remain safe in stasis. ]

[retrorsum]

( she makes zero promises. not that she wants those that she cares about to come to any harm. she'd kill a lot of people before letting that happen )

Have you found any of the pods of people that you know?

[directives]

I have located members of both my crew and my colleague's.

[ she checks on them frequently. ]

[retrorsum]

You have a ship? Or something manned.

( it feels too coincidental for her organisation to be the same as kirk's but at the same time the universe wasn't really that large )