~} Sing {~

Christmas songs are all he's heard on the radio stations, so much so that the Lieutenant's preferred noise he calls heavy metal is a reprieve. Sure he could simply drown it out with his dubstep playlist but even that can grow monotonous over time.

So this is nice. Whatever song is echoing through the halls of New Jericho is pleasing to his audial receptors. It's mostly a quiet hum, words occasionally muttered along but too quiet to properly understand. Out of curiosity he follows the voice through the ship to ask about the song.

The lilting tune leads him to a familiar room; a metal table and shelves of the android parts he'd helped count in the storage room. The blonde android in a tattered white coat fiddling with a detached arm is also familiar; New Jericho's technician in the makeshift medical wing. "Jonah?"

"Hm?" the other android stops humming to lower the arm to the table and look his way. "Ah, you've returned!"

Jonah had asked to speak with him three days ago. Then there was the repairs the day after that Gavin had dropped him off for. Though it wasn't his intention for this trip he might as well acquiesce. "You wanted to see me."

Jonah gestures for him to come closer to the table. "Yes, yes, I'd wanted to know how your repairs are doing. All of them. The first ones weren't my best work and more recently the regulator was rather difficult to replace, what with you being such a limited model, and though you seem to be doing just fine I thought it might be good, for the best in fact, if I could get some more data on the results. I… I lost someone once to shoddy engineering. I won't let it happen again."

"Fine." He holds out his hand and pulls the skin back, allowing the technician to get all his runtime details from the resulting interface. Just like checking in at Cyberlife. Once done and the two disconnect he asks what he'd come here for. "What was that song?"

"Hm? What song?"

"Playing dumb doesn't suit you. You were humming something."

"Oh yes, that. I heard it sung on television the night of the revolution."

"Why are you humming it now?"

Jonah's pause confuses him. Surely it's an easy answer. You don't do something without reason. What is the reason? Simple question, simple answer. Or yet another thing about deviants that doesn't make sense. Finally after 40.23 seconds he finally gets a reply. "It was snowing and everyone joined together in hope. I suppose the holiday season evokes a similar feeling. I know I'm not the only one humming it. It's a common enough song among androids. You should ask around, have someone teach you. Well, if you're interested that is. I have to get back to work."

Not the answer he was anticipating but it will have to do. As he heads for the door Jonah calls out to him about one last thing.

"Your gift!" the technician shouts, tossing him a small, thin, brown paper package.

"Thanks." he replies, choosing to open it later, then leaves.

The rest of the ship is mostly silent. At least for the next several moments. But then he hears the song start back up from a different direction. Following it this time leads him to an area that has been converted into a common room of sorts. Christmas lights hang from the ceiling, held up with periodically placed duct tape. Several androids of differing models sit in a circle around a small statue.

He makes to step inside and ask what they're doing but they stiffen at the sight of him. Ah. More people mistaking him for his predecessor. Fine. He steps back to a point where he can see them but they won't notice him and continues to watch. Hm. A prayer circle of some kind. Likely to rA9. Ridiculous. But why the same song?

He turns away to head for the exit as he's done for the day. Yet on his way out he crosses paths with a YK500 sitting alone, frowning as she colors on a torn sheet of paper and hums the same song. He pauses to analyze her drawing; a poorly-rendered crayon image of herself with an adult figure. He can't match the features on said adult to anyone he's seen in the ship. Whatever model they are, or perhaps human, they are not here. That pushes the frown from concentration to something more negative. She likely lost whoever that adult is.

She pauses to glance up his way and he confirms his assumption purely from the look in her eyes. And then she quickly returns to her paper and scoots away, as if she was never supposed to look at him in the first place. Odd. Fear? Or a desire to be alone?

He ignores the girl and continues on.

He catches sight of Simon and Josh down the hall but they vanish from view before he can reach them. Fine. He'll speak with them some other day. And then as if to replace them North steps into view, grabs his hand without a word, and drags him down a different hall.

The room she leads him to is at the bow of the ship with the windows overlooking the water. More Christmas lights are here, taped to the windows with a scarce few sections of tinsel garland tossed over the control consoles. It screams of trying with little to use. No wonder Josh wants more decorations. The decorations themselves are pointless but he acknowledges they bring comfort to some and this is a paltry display.

North grins at him despite the shoddy setup. "You like?"

"It needs a lot of work."

She pouts. "Yeah, I know. Don't have a lot to use though. You could help you know. Bring some stuff next time you swing by."

"Fine..." he says, dragging the word and rolling his eyes as though the mere concept is a great annoyance. "I'll try to alleviate your disastrous decorating skills."

Hands move to her hips in mock offence. "Rude much?" A pause. "Anyway, were you leaving? I saw you heading out."

"I was. I have a question though." Might as well get a second opinion since he's here. "What is the song everyone seems to be humming? Jonah says it was sung during the revolution?"

Her hands fall to her sides and the false annoyance shifts to something hollow. "At the barricade. It was Markus' idea. Try to show the soldiers we were peaceful. I never expected it to work."

"So it's a song about peace?"

With a shake of her head some of the familiar fire returns to her eyes. "It's about defiance. Holding out and not giving up no matter what. You stay the course cause you know everything will get better."

Hm. Yet another association for the same tune. "Why is everyone humming it now?"

A half-hearted shrug as she hops onto the edge of a control console, careful not to sit on any important buttons. "It's been weeks, it's getting colder, the government still hasn't gotten their shit together even with Markus prodding them. I guess people are looking for a spot of hope. Sure we won the battle but we still have to fight a war."

"That's an interesting way of looking at it."

"Why don't you know the song?"

"I was in Cyberlife Tower that night and never watched the televised broadcast."

"I can teach you."

A fair offer. No-one has provided any lyrics thus far. He doesn't plan on ever singing it but it would be useful to add the information to his database. You never know when something will become relevant. With a nod and a waving hand gesture he prompts her to begin.

.

Jonah thinks the song evokes hope.

The androids in the common room used it for reverence.

The YK500 girl expressed sadness with it.

North believes it to be a sign of defiance.

Markus apparently sung it for the sake of peace.

.

So many associations for just one song.

.

On his way back to the Lieutenant's house he replays the memory of North teaching it to him. Perhaps with time he will discover what concept he associates the song with.

.

"Hold on, just a little while longer.

Fight on, just a little while longer.

Sing on, just a little while longer.

Everything will be alright..."

.

Author's Note: It occurred to me after writing that I should clarify something. I know Kara can abandon Alice at Jericho. This is not what happened here. I promise you the YK500 here is not Alice. This is after the best ending. She's just another YK500 without a parent.