Closed;

[donkeyballs]

» WHO? Alex, Amos, Naomi, Bobbie, Prax
» WHEN? Day 8 and catchall for may
» WHERE? Wandering around the Station
» WHAT? The crew of the Roci goes hunting for their missing members
» WARNINGS? Alex is going to get stuck in a door and there might be some violence initiated to try to get him out. Also: Catchall for other Roci crew threads. 


It felt a hell of a lot better, to have the three of them all together. Amos had a few days alone, and Alex was all too glad that hadn't been him. He'd only had a day to wonder how the hell he got there and where the rest of his crew was, before he found Amos. Then a couple days later they'd found Naomi. He was confident, now, that it was only a matter of time before they found the others - Holden and Prax. The cap and the plant guy. Alex hadn't even noticed when Prax had officially become someone he counted as crew. As family. It didn't matter. He was, now. And that meant that Alex was just as keen on finding him as he was on finding Holden.

He wanted to find the Roci, too, but he didn't have a hell of a lot of hope, for that one. Whoever or whatever had brought them here didn't seem too eager to give them a way out. He hated it - hated the idea that he was separated from her, that he didn't know where she was or who had her - but right now Holden and Prax were more important. Once they were all together, they could work on getting the ship back.

They'd started with the top floor and worked their way down. No door was left unopened (when they would open at all), no proverbial stone unturned. Despite the fact that they'd gone through a few floors, now, Alex was undeterred. They could still find them. And even if they didn't, that didn't mean they weren't on the station. Apollo's image had made it clear there was a hell of a lot more to this place than they had access to. So maybe they were being held somewhere else. But that didn't mean they weren't gonna try.

"Alright, I'll take this row," He said amiably, as if calling sides in a game of foot ball, walking towards a row of doors. He tried to open the first one, locked, and went for the next. "Anyone want to lay bets for what sort of person we accidentally walk in on, next?"

Comments

[marineris]

Bobbie was thinking of Avasarala, too. She's finding that she's missing her more and more, but then, Miller has never met her. And then of course Miller has to go and be incredibly rude, and Bobbie rolls her eyes, scowling. "Get your thumb out of my face. I'm right here."

[donkeyballs]

"She's my friend," he replies, in the sort of tone that makes it clear that he doesn't consider that a rank of lesser importance, but that he's also pretty annoyed with the question. Seriously, Miller? Play nice for two seconds?

"She ended up on the Roci, later - and you've met the others." Wait. "Or most of them - you met Prax, yet? I should call him down--"

[pampa]

He just shrugs, not put off by how touchy they seem to be. If anything, it lends merit to his theory, but the thing is? He also doesn't give a fuck if they're screwing so he won't press it.

"You mean after I bit the big one." May as well call a spade a spade. Miller leans back and away from his as yet untouched meal and steeples his fingers in thought. "The guy that hangs around Burton, right? I've seen him." Please stop. He's still skeptical about why Alex is even doing this. Misplaced guilt maybe? He's back to looking at Bobbie, but there's something softer there now. Not quite kind, but not the impenetrable mask of a moment ago.

"I know I'm a tough act to follow, so you must be special." It's an invitation for her to tell him something...? Anything, really. He's bored, he'll listen.

[marineris]

"Special?" She doesn't know what he's getting at there, so she shakes her head, frowning before spearing a forkful of whatever the hell is on her tray. "I'm a Martian marine. Was." She doubts any of them would be happy to see her now.

That's not something she really considers important right now, or something she wants to talk about, so she shifts gears. "Do you... remember dying?"

[donkeyballs]

Alex just kind of makes a pained face at the 'after I bit the big one', because he'd been trying to avoid bringing it up.

"Yeah, that's him. Far as I can tell, everyone who's from our version of the solar system has at some time lived on the Roci. Which is the biggest damn coincidence I've ever heard." Even if he didn't remember Bobbie being on it, Prax did. And there was no way Bobbie would know about the flag - no way she'd hit Amos for it - if she Hadn't been on board.

He glances at Bobbie when she asks that, and lets out a breath. So much for not bringing it up.

[pampa]

Miller doesn't seem any worse for wear with the question, if only because it had been Inevitable. He shakes his head with a bland little shrug like she's asking him about the weather. "Nope. I had just gotten to Eros... or at least, that's as much as I remember." The time travel thing is actually making him far more uneasy than apparently being dead. Maybe because it's what he wanted to begin with, it's hard to say. "MMC, huh? Should've known." He works his jaw. She has that military look for sure.

"What'd they do to you?" Because the only way a Martian defects is if they're betrayed by their own. They're the most loyal bunch in the system by far. Damn near indoctrinated, the lot of them. He's suddenly much more curious about her deal, tuning out Alex. This whole place makes no sense, he doesn't have to unpack that shit right now.

[marineris]

Bobbie shoots him a dark look. That's not something she wants to get into with a total stranger, and she almost tells him to fuck off, but... Screw it. It's sharing time, apparently. She shifts back, crossing her arms.

"Made some sort of protomolecule hybrid and tested it out on my team. Do you want the details? Should we play twenty questions?"

[donkeyballs]

"Don't think he knows about the hybrids, yet," Alex said, his voice a little quiet as he glanced at Bobbie. Easy, Gunny.

[pampa]

His eyes narrow again and he's leaning forward across the table, like he might reach out and grab one of them. but his hands remain on the tabletop, trying to ignore the bile rising up his throat. "Hybrids." It's too late, alex. you know he's not letting you off the hook for that one.

[marineris]

She glances back at Alex instinctively, and the tone of his voice does get her to calm down a bit. She sighs. Miller's reaction is understandable—thinking about them, thinking about Mars' part in them, still makes her chest constrict.

"Mars partnered with Mao to create them. They're... they were human. I don't know if there's anything human left in them now. We couldn't even touch the thing. It was too fast. It..." Bobbie trails off, clearing her throat as she looks away. Too much information.

[donkeyballs]

"If they ever landed on Earth, the war would be over." Alex finished for her. Part of him wanted to reach over and squeeze her shoulder, but Miller had already given him grief and he was a little self conscious. So he didn't. Instead, he just gave her a sympathetic look.

"We managed to kill it, eventually. But not before it got on the Roci and nearly took us down with it. Had to lure it outside with a nuclear warhead and then blast it down to its atoms in the drive plume."

[pampa]

Mao. That son of a bitch. Miller's throat constricts, but he nods to show he understands. None of his anger is directed at them, obviously. The way Alex describes dispatching the creature reeks of teamwork, and isn't that the Rocinante way.

"Smart. Almost as smart as my idea." You know, the one that didn't work. Miller is processing and coming back to Bobbie's story, frowning at her suddenly. "What about you? How'd you survive?" Apparently, yeah, twenty questions is his favorite game. Sorry, girlfran.

[marineris]

"I don't know. Luck. I shouldn't have." Shouldn't have because it still doesn't make sense to her, and shouldn't have because in her mind, it isn't right that her team died and she survived because of a fluke. If anything, she should have gone down saving them, but she doesn't voice any of that, just shakes her head again. "There's some sort of failsafe implanted in them. It exploded, and another unit found me."

[pampa]

"Well, hey. Join the club of people who shouldn't be alive but are, kid." He holds up both his hands in mock-invitation. Despite the silliness, he's taking her words very seriously. He just doesn't have a broader context for them yet.

[marineris]

"Yeah, thanks." It's semi-sarcastic, but not especially combative. Just talking about what happened in Ganymede exhausts her. "I don't know what the hell we're going to do about them."

[donkeyballs]

"They ain't invincible, at least." He didn't have much more happiness to offer than that, however, and poked at his food.

"And they ain't here. Whatever else we have to worry about, I haven't seen hide nor hair of the protomolecule."

[pampa]

That has Miller turning his head to Alex and offering a simple: "Yet."

[marineris]

Bobbie's mouth twists, and she jerks her head in Miller's direction. "He's an optimist, huh?" Despite the sarcasm, she partially agrees. They have no idea if the protomolecule could show up.

[donkeyballs]

"A bright blue eyed one, but I ain't about to disagree with him. It ain't here yet. But I'll take that and run with it as far as I can."

[pampa]

He just gives Alex a dry look before focusing on Bobbie again. "Optimism is for assholes and Earthers."

[marineris]

She snorts, an amused sound. "Considering we're surrounded by Earthers, we might have to get used to it."

[pampa]

"You two aren't much better," he grumbles, but there's no heat behind the words. He starts to pick at his food now even though it's stone cold. It's not more or less appetizing because of it so what difference does it make? "But if there's one thing a Belter does best, it's getting used to fucked up circumstances."

[donkeyballs]

Admittedly, Alex is probably the most optimistic of the crew, so he just gives a lopsided grin.

"I ain't plannin' on stickin' around long enough to get used to it. Once we find the Roci, we can get the hell out of here."

[marineris]

"Alright." She absolutely down for getting the hell out of here. "So what's our plan, then?" Assuming he and the rest of the crew has one.

[pampa]

That gets him to widen his gaze, dropping the fork with a dramatic little plat. Well, alright it would've been dramatic if it were a metal utensil.

"Our plan? What, like we're a team?" He sniffs, almost derisive really.