My girlfriend has introduced me to "seaQuest DSV", one of her favorite TV shows from back in The Day. The fandom is basically dead - both in terms of activity, and the fact that its members and the actors all seem to, well, die, often - and to be honest, the things I like best about the series don't seem like they'd be very popular to its Internet following anyways. But! I've had this scene in my head since the first episode, and, well, I couldn't resist. P.S.: No dolphins were harmed in the making of this story.
No Suit, Skin
Bridger looked skeptically at the device in Lucas' hand. "So this thing lets us understand what Darwin's saying?" he asked.
"This 'thing' will," Lucas smirked, all teenager, all attitude. It didn't help that he was a genius, where the smugness was actually warranted, of course.
Bridger rolled his eyes. "Sorry, the Vocoder," he corrected, watching Lucas fiddle with the device. A splash turned his attention to the water. "How are you doing, Darwin?" he asked the dolphin, relieved to see something familiar in the midst of so much newness. He'd been a self-elected hermit for nearly a decade, and had come on board the seaQuest DSV not entirely by choice. Quite frankly, the sheer amount of people around to interact with was getting to him.
Darwin let out a brief trill. *RAPE*, the Vocoder translated, crackling. *RAAAAPE.*
Bridger blinked. "It must be some mistake," he said with a short laugh, tossing a dirty look in Darwin's direction nonetheless.
*NO SUIT, SKIN*
Lucas fiddled with the device. "It's ... weird," he said, mostly to himself. "I haven't ... programmed that in yet ..."
*RAAAAPE*
Lieutenant Krieg's entrance made Bridger and Lucas both look up. "Hey, kid, got those parts you wanted ..." he began, then squinted at the Vocoder. "What's that thing?" he pointed.
"What parts?" Bridger asked suspiciously.
Krieg coughed. "Parts, what parts," he said absently, then yanked the remote out of Lucas' grip. "Pretty swanky," he said, and whistled through his teeth.
"Be careful with that!" Lucas yelled. "It's really high-tech!"
"Really?" Krieg's eyes were already dancing with dollar signs. Then Darwin bleated again (*RAAAAPE*), and he nearly dropped the Vocoder. Lucas wrenched it away with a glare, just before it hit the water. If only, Bridger thought sullenly.
*NO MEANS NO ... RAAAAPE ...*
"Dude, I think something happened to that dolphin," Krieg announced.
"I think something did," Lucas agreed, frowning pointedly at Bridger. The Vocoder translated something involving the penetration of Darwin's blowhole.
Bridger crossed his arms, dignity waning. "I don't think ... that dolphins were ever meant to communicate with humans," he said decidedly, and then stomped off.