→ 003 | network | audio | OTA | cw: parental death mention

[liliputana]

[Sameen Shaw, aged ten, has been taught what to do if anyone ever tries to kidnap her. She has not been taught what to do if she wakes up someplace completely strange and unfamiliar, wearing way-too-big clothes that don't belong to her. Has she been kidnapped? Is she still dreaming? Did her mom die, causing the police to take her to an orphanage while she was sleeping? She certainly doesn't know. And since she's alone in the room she finds herself in, and the hallway happens to be empty when she sticks her head out to check, there doesn't seem to be anybody around to ask... until she finds her network device.

She doesn't have anything like this at home, but it looks a lot like the things they use in Star Trek, so at least there's some level of familiarity there - and that's enough to inspire her to try to use it.]

Hello?

[She stops and waits, but no one answers - which, as she quickly figures out, probably means that she's not placing a call on an open line, but rather preparing a message to send. And that means she should say a little more. In a completely calm, measured voice, she adds:]

If my mom is dead, can you just tell me? You don't have to wait to decide how to say it in a nice way.

Comments

is it really one of these two making a network post at this point without the other poking it?

[work_wife]

[What the actual hell? Who brought in a new kid in during the middle of a winter party who has JUST lost her mother? Also where is Harrington? He's the babysitter, not her!]

I'm sorry, we can't answer that. I'm so sorry. Do you need someone to come sit with you for a while?

I love it tho

[liliputana]

[Don't talk to strangers unless they're in uniform is another message Sameen has been taught, but this stranger sounds like a kid - a much older kid, yes, but talking to a stranger who's a teenager is probably okay.]

Do you know where I am?

[work_wife]

[She could be in uniform. You don't know.]

Honestly? I don't know what this planet is called. But that's not what you mean. Have you ever read or had stories read to you where kids go on adventures to distant worlds because of magic or something?

[liliputana]

Sometimes. Movies, too.

[It's a pretty common trope.]

But they're not real.

[work_wife]

They're, uh, more real than you think. Are you inside a cozy little cabin right now? If so there's a dresser with warm clothes. Put some on and then look outside, okay?

[liliputana]

I saw the snow. And the weird houses. It's really another planet?

[work_wife]

Yeah. Most of us were brought here by aliens on a space ship. But some people... I don't know. I didn't see you before that. So I guess you're new. I'm so sorry.

Do you want someone to come over and sit with you?

[liliputana]

I want to know if my mom is okay.

[And clearly this girl can't help with that, but it's big and important enough that it feels worth saying again regardless.]

You can come over if you want. But I'm...

[Another pause; she turns to look out the window, which makes her voice a bit fainter.]

I don't know how to give directions to where I am. Maybe we can meet out in the snow instead.

[work_wife]

I'm not sure anyone here can tell you that. I'm really sorry.

[Doesn't know how to give directions. Okay, that's, uh, fair.]

Alright. I'll get into really warm clothes and meet you. Stay by your door? So you can go back into the warm place if you get cold.

[liliputana]

Okay.

[And then Sameen hangs up without so much as a goodbye - but she does change into clothes that actually fit, pull on all the winterwear that she can find (snowpants, coat, hat that covers her ears, gloves, snowboots) before heading outside. It occurs to her that she doesn't know what her new buddy actually looks like, but she doesn't call back to ask - instead, she just looks around for someone who seems like they're looking for someone. Surely that'll work.]

[work_wife]

[It will, especially since most people here are Agrii or people she's familiar with. So she moves around the central village as quickly as she can until she can find what looks like a little girl by a door.]

Excuse me.

[She approaches and tucks her hands into her pockets to try and seem like less of a threat.]

Hi. I'm Robin.

[liliputana]

Hi.

[The little girl's facial expression looks as impassive in person as her voice had sounded over the communicator, and there's no fear in her eyes as she tilts her head up to look at Robin.]

I'm Sameen. I'm ten. Are you in college?

[work_wife]

[Geez, ten? Man, Robin wants to hug her so much, and she's not even that much of a kid person.]

I'm not in college yet. I'm a few months from graduating high school back home.

[And she wasn't likely to leave town any time soon.]

[liliputana]

I haven't seen any grown-ups here.

[She takes a moment to look around again, as if one might be hiding behind a cabin or something.]

Is that normal?

[work_wife]

There are some. I don't know where they are right now.

[She does look do the door of the cabin. Should she make sure the girl is inside or something?]

Maybe we should get you some warmth? Or food?

[liliputana]

Food.

[This is said immediately and unreservedly. Foooood food food food.]

You don't like the snow?

[work_wife]

[Robin sighs. The snow is... it's a thing. She can respect it, but she doesn't have to like it.]

Not like this. Not when I can't go home and have my favorite soup. But let's see what we can get here. You willing to come with me?

[liliputana]

Sure.

[Sameen does like the snow, but she has a voracious appetite for her small size and young age, and high-schoolers definitely don't count as strangers that she's not allowed to go off with. The choice here is easy.]

It's warm inside the buildings, though. Isn't that good enough? Is your home warmer and better?

[work_wife]

Yeah, it's warm in the buildings. But the cabin I'm staying in, it's about as warm as the cafeteria. So really, I'll leave the choice to you.

[liliputana]

The cafeteria. But, I meant...

[She goes quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to put this into words.]

You don't like the snow because you miss home? Is that what you meant?

[work_wife]

Oh. That.

[Robin winces.]

No, I just... I fell into an icy hole recently.

audio

[serpentigena]

[ That sure is a statement to make so calmly, welp. And he's not about to ignore a kid asking questions, especially ones like that, on the network. ]

That's a question I don't have a really helpful answer to, I'm sorry. [ He wishes he had an answer, though. Preferably the one with the 'alive' outcome given the two choices. ]

But, has she been here at all with you? [ Because maybe she had been and now is obviously nowhere to be found for a longer than usual amount of time, hence the girl's question — even if it does skip past the 'has anyone seen my mom? I can't find her' angle, and goes right to the worst possibility. ] Because especially if she has been here, I am pretty good at helping to find people. [ Or what happened to them. ] I did it all the time with my friends back home.

[ So, you know, if she wants help looking. ]

audio

[liliputana]

I don't know if she was here. I've never been here before. I went to bed at home, and when I woke up I was in a different room.

[It sure is weird!]

I thought maybe a policeman or a social worker brought me here because she died. Are we still in America?

[serpentigena]

It's definitely an awkward and disorienting experience; I've only been here a handful of days myself. [ Just so she knows she's not the only one who's had to deal with weirdness so recently, since it might be slightly reassuring. As much as something like that can be, anyway. ] If you want, you can tell me some stuff about your mom so if I see anything that indicates she is or was here, I'll know? But, as for being in America still, we are not there, no. That's where I was before here, too.

[liliputana]

Are we on a base?

[But-- okay. Describing her mom so the big kid can help her find her is a good idea; she can do that.]

My mom's name is Niloufar Hanifnejad. She has long dark brown hair and she likes wearing blue jeans. She works at NYU; she's a literature professor.

[serpentigena]

Like a military base? No, not that kind anyway.

[ Well, unless it's just very good at hiding that. But that's doubtful. ]

Oh, if she's here, I can find a literature professor so easily. I do a lot of reading and writing, and even more talking about them. [ Hence, 'find the literature professor' becomes more of a 'find the person who doesn't have the expression of 'if you don't shut the fuck up two and a half hours ago, I will murder you' all over their face' thing. Finally, this becomes useful. ]

[liliputana]

[HMMMMM. Sameen considers this tactic, decides that it's a good one, and says:]

Can you tell a lot of people that you want to take a college class about poetry? And that you want to write good papers about Robert Frost and Rumi.

[A pause.]

And that you're looking for an advisor.

[Nailed it.]

[serpentigena]

[ yeah, no tactic he's ever had to use or will ever use again for looking for a person is ever going to top this one, both in terms of just general greatness and also how easy it is. ]

I can definitely do all of the above. Also, which cabin are you in? [ that would probably be helpful information to have too in case he does find her ]

[liliputana]

[Good question. She sticks her head out the door, makes a note of it, and then reads out the number to him.]

Do you actually want to do all those things?

[serpentigena]

There's not a lot more things second nature to me than both trying to help people find other people, and talking incessantly about literature related topics. So yes I do want to do those things to help.

[ assuming that's what she meant by the question. ]

[liliputana]

What about writing papers?

[He can't possibly actually like doing that, can he?]

[serpentigena]

Yep, actually those too. How about you — what's your list of things you like doing?

[ thinking about fun things is so much better than thinking about being stuck on weird planets, ok ]

[agrii]

Greet they. Take care with warm claw thing. Take care with good food. Take care with deli cat body.

[liliputana]

[No comments are made on the wording, even if Sameen does have to listen a few times to understand what's being said: her mom has a foreign accent that sometimes people are rude about, and she's seen how kids at school who are still learning English get made fun of. Both these experiences have taught her that telling people that they talk funny is a mean thing to do.]

How do I get food if my mom isn't here?

[agrii]

Food prep aired. First, clean hands. Every hands. Eat beef or cold, in calf ate area.

[liliputana]

Okay.

[Wash your hands before dinner, Sameen. At least that's a familiar directive.]

Are there any grown-ups here?

[agrii]

There is me. I am here. Some he rows say they are grown-up. May be up, not very grown.

[liliputana]

Are you in charge? Do you know what happened to my mom?

[agrii]

Not eel lick trick. Eat food.

Not know mom. Not know pair ant here ex sipped Big Peat Hair. Read Crew on device. Peat Hair.

[liliputana]

Big... Peter?

[A pause.]

Is he supposed to be taking care of the rest of the kids, too?

[agrii]

Purr pose same as you. Care for planet. Care for Agrii. Care for self. Not all ways eve act if.

[liliputana]

I'm not allowed to take care of myself. I'm ten.

[But on the other hand, if there's no one else to take care of her... she doesn't really have a choice, does she?

At least there's free food. Or, at least, she hopes that it's free.]

Do I need money?

[agrii]

No maw knee. Eat and sleep, in joy New Tick.