Finals are mercifully over, so I can finally devote more time to writing! Thanks to Jodz92, scr1tno, and z'yiandria for reviewing! You awesome support motivates me to keep going, even when the craft is giving me a hard time (as it does from time to time :D). Enjoy!

When she had finished her meal, Marie collapsed upon her bed and turned the radio on at full volume. She let herself sink into the sound, let it wash over her and drown the guilt that had been prickling at her since she left the mess. She had been mean and she knew it. Though cold and distant, Marie never allowed herself to stoop to meanness. That kind of behavior risked vulnerability and elevated the exchange to a personal level. That would not do at all, especially in the current circumstances. Closing her eyes, Marie concentrated on how the song's harsh tune pounded in her insides, each note a blow.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Miffed at having to having to get up from bed, she opened the door to find Rachel staring down at her with guarded annoyance. "Do you mind turning your volume down? I'm trying to analyze some data and the noise is very distracting."

"Sorry about that." Marie moved to turn her dial down. "I didn't think anyone was around. Most people are at the mess right now."

"I would be too," Rachel answered, "but I can't find it, so I'm just living off rations."

Marie cocked her head in interest. "Why didn't you just ask someone?"

"I did. I asked a technician named Chuck and he gave me a map."

"Did you loose it?"

Rachel looked uncomfortable. "No. It's – it's in my room. I've just...never been very good with maps. How did you get that music to play?" she added quickly.

"With that," Marie pointed to her improvised radio.

Rachel squinted at it. "Did you make that?" she asked, as she drew closer to inspect the device.

"It actually wasn't that difficult. All you have to do is –"

"Yes, yes, I can see how you made it," Rachel cut in with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Connecting the room's speaker system to your giant mp3 player...Clever, but not very original. And it does pose the problem of disrupting communications."

"My mp3 player's not that big," Marie objected. "Still," she added, "do you think you could do better?"

"Well..." Rachel looked down at the radio again, "I'm not sure. But I have a few ideas."

"Cool," answered Marie with a smile. "Do you think you could take a look at it? I've been trying to improve the sound quality but it's remained depressingly substandard."

"I'm not a fully trained engineer yet. Until I have my license, I'd rather not mess with the communication systems."

"I've already pretty much killed the system in this room. I don't really think you could make it worse at this point," Marie pointed out.

"Well..." Rachel looked dubious, but then she nodded. "Okay. I suppose I could give it a shot. We'll have to restore communications, for starters. You don't want the system to malfunction during an emergency, do you? Then we can worry about the rest." She bit a fingernail as she thought.

"Didn't you say you were analyzing some data?"

"Oh, right. Yes. I should probably go finish that."

As Rachel made to leave, Marie asked "What are you analyzing?"

"Tachyon particles produced in induced naquadria decay. It's for an assignment."

"An assignment!" Marie laughed. "We're stranded in an alternate reality! I don't think they'll be too harsh if you hand it in late."

Rachel frowned. "I'd rather not take my chances. See you later, then." With an awkward parting wave, she left the room.

Marie shook her head then headed back to the bed, where she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I'm a little reluctant to give my OCs too much screen time, because it tends to turn off the readers. There is quite a back story to them that I'd like to include, but I'm not sure how to go about it yet (as I don't want to bore you guys!). Let me know what you think. It'd be awesome if you could clue me in on what you would be interested in learning more about, etc. Thanks for reading! :)