Okay, here's another chapter to make up for being horrible and telling lies
*sings* telling lies, telling liees!
Lyrrik: Sorry. She's been listening to Steeleye Span all day...
Disclaimer: The Project Athena concept is mine. If for some odd reason you want it, you can use it if: you ask nicely, tell me the name of the story you use it in, and give me a mention for it in your disclaimer. Everything else, excluding characters, isn't mine.
'...I'm thinking of an animal...long shaggy hair...horns...four feet...hooves...that's right!...a yak!...' thought Silver randomly.
Project Athena- Chapter XIII: Peace, Quiet, and Sanity
When Silver and Yak returned to the Cassiopeia, Silver had lots to think about. She'd found Voldie, Vix, and N/A to be pretty good company, but there'd been no escaping Yak and her endless talking. Other people had popped in, but Silver couldn't remember their names. Yak had then dragged her around to another two ships to meet other people, whose names also escaped her.
'...I am not a people person...I can't remember them all!...dammit...'
Yak talked quietly all the way back 'home' about nothing in particular. For some reason, Silver felt as though she'd been wrung out through a mangle- tired and sore. When they got back to the Cassiopeia, Silver would have dearly loved to flop into bed and try to sort out her thoughts, but Yak had other plans. She was towed to yet another room, this one with a table in the middle. She sat down gratefully on a bench with her head in her hands, but before she could think so much as '...what the hell is going on?...', Yak plunked a tin dish down in front of her and added, to Silver's bewildered amusement, a spork.
'...a spork?...heheheh...that's...random, I guess...'
"This," she was informed, "is what passes for food here. At least theoretically, it's got everything you need- vitamins, minerals, the whole works. I've never actually heard of it being proven, though. When you're done, put your dish and spork upside-down on that rack over there- last person to eat turns the steam cleaner on, and that's not you." She sat down next to Silver and opened her mouth to keep talking, but before she could start, a voice that Silver recognized cut her off.
"Yak, stop terrorizing the new girl." Yak shut her mouth again and left, muttering an unintelligible excuse, and Lynx sat down at the opposite side of the table, leaving Silver plenty of space to breathe.
"Thanks..." Silver mumbled with an exhausted sigh. Silence descended as she sat and idly poked at the sludge in her dish, thinking of nothing in particular.
'...ahh...sweet silence...peace and quiet...'
"Eat your goop- it's good for you," Lynx commanded absently. Silver was too dozy to object so she obediently stuck a sporkfull of 'goop' into her mouth.
'...eughh...'
"Ugh," she muttered. It was, without a doubt, the most disgusting thing she'd ever eaten. It had the consistency of phlegm and tasted like kaolectrolyte fluids, with a slight multivitamin aftertaste.
"I know, it's disgusting. It's best to just finish quickly and get it over with," Lynx advised. Silver took one look at her spork, which wasn't exactly designed for eating goo, and picked up the dish instead. Taking a deep breath, she drank it down, mentally cursing the inventors of the computer that started it all, beginning with Babbage and Lovelace and their punchcards.
'...eww...why did this happen to me?...'
"Righty then, goop gone," she said, putting the dish on the table again. Lynx gave her a tin mug of water, which she gulped gratefully. It helped clear away the slimy feeling.
"Unless I'm very mistaken, right about now you're starting to realize that the fate of humanity lies in the hands of a bunch of very slightly eccentric people, and you've just joined their ranks."
'...good point...'
"Yeah."
"And you're probably finding someone to blame?"
"But of course," Silver shrugged.
"Might I inquire whom it is you're blaming?"
'...nosy, nosy...tsk tsk tsk...can't I have any peace and quiet?...evidently not...'
"Charles Babbage and his lady friend and their damnable bits of cardboard."
"Who?"
"The guy who invented the first computer of sorts, his assistant, and their punchcard programs."
"I see. A word of advice- don't blame anybody yet. Not having anyone to blame will just drive you crazy for a while, but you'll have a chance to make up your mind whose fault it all is later. For the moment, just try to forget about it."
'...forget about it?...oh, that'll be easy...not!...'
"I know, I sound like I'm totally mad, but I know what I'm talking about. Most of the population of Athena would give you the same advice- ninety-odd percent of them have the same issue to deal with."
'...'tever...hang on a second!...ninety-odd percent, not everyone?...meh, stupid me...it stands to reason that if they've had time to build cities, they've had time to procreate...and the babies wouldn't have had to live in the Matrix at all...I'm too tired to think...'
"So," Lynx went on, "just to make polite conversation, where'd Yak take you today?"
'...hello, trying to think here, don't feel like talking!...this is why I never had any friends and never wanted any!...best to be polite, though...'
"Around," Silver said vaguely. "The Hive, a couple of other ships."
"Meet anyone worth talking to?"
'...please leave me alone!...'
"Vix and N/A seemed nice- Voldie and E.M. were a bit scary, though."
"Oh, Yak's crowd. They're not actually all that crazy, they just like to scare the rookies."
'...typical...'
"And once you know how to deal with Yak, she's not a bad person to talk to either," Lynx reassured her. Silver's head inadvertently drooped onto her arms. "Good grief- go to bed. I forgot- your 'internal clock' is set for Massachusetts. For whatever reason, Athena is on California time. You must be wrecked, and you're probably still a little sore from reconstruction. Go on."
'...bed!...three cheers for Lynx!...'
"Thanks," Silver said politely. "G'ni-" The rest of the word was lost in a yawn.
Lynx smiled as she watched Silver leave. In her mind's eye, she could see a girl a little older and quite a bit shorter- a younger version of herself- stumbling off to bed in the same fashion, hanging on to things to keep from toppling over in exhaustion. Smiling to herself, she went to find something useful to do. ***
Lyrrik: *does the chicken dance* Yay! Another chapter! Within two days as promised!
Yeah and stuff...*falls asleep*
Lyrrik: *pokes me* Wake up! There's that songfic to do still!
*wakes up* Oh yeah, that...in a random burst of inspiration, Lyrrik came up with a songfic. Now I have to type it up and post it or she'll thwap me. It's Matrix-inspired- check it out, please!
Lyrrik: That is of course assuming that you don't fall asleep again before you can post it...
*yawns* I'll have another chapter up soon, plus the usual Thursday update. Bye!
Lyrrik: Sorry. She's been listening to Steeleye Span all day...
Disclaimer: The Project Athena concept is mine. If for some odd reason you want it, you can use it if: you ask nicely, tell me the name of the story you use it in, and give me a mention for it in your disclaimer. Everything else, excluding characters, isn't mine.
'...I'm thinking of an animal...long shaggy hair...horns...four feet...hooves...that's right!...a yak!...' thought Silver randomly.
Project Athena- Chapter XIII: Peace, Quiet, and Sanity
When Silver and Yak returned to the Cassiopeia, Silver had lots to think about. She'd found Voldie, Vix, and N/A to be pretty good company, but there'd been no escaping Yak and her endless talking. Other people had popped in, but Silver couldn't remember their names. Yak had then dragged her around to another two ships to meet other people, whose names also escaped her.
'...I am not a people person...I can't remember them all!...dammit...'
Yak talked quietly all the way back 'home' about nothing in particular. For some reason, Silver felt as though she'd been wrung out through a mangle- tired and sore. When they got back to the Cassiopeia, Silver would have dearly loved to flop into bed and try to sort out her thoughts, but Yak had other plans. She was towed to yet another room, this one with a table in the middle. She sat down gratefully on a bench with her head in her hands, but before she could think so much as '...what the hell is going on?...', Yak plunked a tin dish down in front of her and added, to Silver's bewildered amusement, a spork.
'...a spork?...heheheh...that's...random, I guess...'
"This," she was informed, "is what passes for food here. At least theoretically, it's got everything you need- vitamins, minerals, the whole works. I've never actually heard of it being proven, though. When you're done, put your dish and spork upside-down on that rack over there- last person to eat turns the steam cleaner on, and that's not you." She sat down next to Silver and opened her mouth to keep talking, but before she could start, a voice that Silver recognized cut her off.
"Yak, stop terrorizing the new girl." Yak shut her mouth again and left, muttering an unintelligible excuse, and Lynx sat down at the opposite side of the table, leaving Silver plenty of space to breathe.
"Thanks..." Silver mumbled with an exhausted sigh. Silence descended as she sat and idly poked at the sludge in her dish, thinking of nothing in particular.
'...ahh...sweet silence...peace and quiet...'
"Eat your goop- it's good for you," Lynx commanded absently. Silver was too dozy to object so she obediently stuck a sporkfull of 'goop' into her mouth.
'...eughh...'
"Ugh," she muttered. It was, without a doubt, the most disgusting thing she'd ever eaten. It had the consistency of phlegm and tasted like kaolectrolyte fluids, with a slight multivitamin aftertaste.
"I know, it's disgusting. It's best to just finish quickly and get it over with," Lynx advised. Silver took one look at her spork, which wasn't exactly designed for eating goo, and picked up the dish instead. Taking a deep breath, she drank it down, mentally cursing the inventors of the computer that started it all, beginning with Babbage and Lovelace and their punchcards.
'...eww...why did this happen to me?...'
"Righty then, goop gone," she said, putting the dish on the table again. Lynx gave her a tin mug of water, which she gulped gratefully. It helped clear away the slimy feeling.
"Unless I'm very mistaken, right about now you're starting to realize that the fate of humanity lies in the hands of a bunch of very slightly eccentric people, and you've just joined their ranks."
'...good point...'
"Yeah."
"And you're probably finding someone to blame?"
"But of course," Silver shrugged.
"Might I inquire whom it is you're blaming?"
'...nosy, nosy...tsk tsk tsk...can't I have any peace and quiet?...evidently not...'
"Charles Babbage and his lady friend and their damnable bits of cardboard."
"Who?"
"The guy who invented the first computer of sorts, his assistant, and their punchcard programs."
"I see. A word of advice- don't blame anybody yet. Not having anyone to blame will just drive you crazy for a while, but you'll have a chance to make up your mind whose fault it all is later. For the moment, just try to forget about it."
'...forget about it?...oh, that'll be easy...not!...'
"I know, I sound like I'm totally mad, but I know what I'm talking about. Most of the population of Athena would give you the same advice- ninety-odd percent of them have the same issue to deal with."
'...'tever...hang on a second!...ninety-odd percent, not everyone?...meh, stupid me...it stands to reason that if they've had time to build cities, they've had time to procreate...and the babies wouldn't have had to live in the Matrix at all...I'm too tired to think...'
"So," Lynx went on, "just to make polite conversation, where'd Yak take you today?"
'...hello, trying to think here, don't feel like talking!...this is why I never had any friends and never wanted any!...best to be polite, though...'
"Around," Silver said vaguely. "The Hive, a couple of other ships."
"Meet anyone worth talking to?"
'...please leave me alone!...'
"Vix and N/A seemed nice- Voldie and E.M. were a bit scary, though."
"Oh, Yak's crowd. They're not actually all that crazy, they just like to scare the rookies."
'...typical...'
"And once you know how to deal with Yak, she's not a bad person to talk to either," Lynx reassured her. Silver's head inadvertently drooped onto her arms. "Good grief- go to bed. I forgot- your 'internal clock' is set for Massachusetts. For whatever reason, Athena is on California time. You must be wrecked, and you're probably still a little sore from reconstruction. Go on."
'...bed!...three cheers for Lynx!...'
"Thanks," Silver said politely. "G'ni-" The rest of the word was lost in a yawn.
Lynx smiled as she watched Silver leave. In her mind's eye, she could see a girl a little older and quite a bit shorter- a younger version of herself- stumbling off to bed in the same fashion, hanging on to things to keep from toppling over in exhaustion. Smiling to herself, she went to find something useful to do. ***
Lyrrik: *does the chicken dance* Yay! Another chapter! Within two days as promised!
Yeah and stuff...*falls asleep*
Lyrrik: *pokes me* Wake up! There's that songfic to do still!
*wakes up* Oh yeah, that...in a random burst of inspiration, Lyrrik came up with a songfic. Now I have to type it up and post it or she'll thwap me. It's Matrix-inspired- check it out, please!
Lyrrik: That is of course assuming that you don't fall asleep again before you can post it...
*yawns* I'll have another chapter up soon, plus the usual Thursday update. Bye!