autodidacticrobogirl | oo9 | Gone

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oo9 | Gone | Audio/Video, Open

I told you so. It's all you people ever do.

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.

[The video flicks on. It wobbles a bit, then steadies, showing a lovely view of the Elegante version of the moon.]

Know what today is? It's Moon-landing day. On July 20, 1969, the first human being to reach a place outside our planet first stepped out onto the surface of the Moon.

Big day. We should try living up to it sometime.

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I'm not sure that would be the case with mine at this point.

[...But now he's curious.]

Are you a geneticist?

I used to be pretty sure it was never the case, but science isn't built on dogmatic assumptions. I only care about the truth, not what's likely.

[She hesitates]

Sort of. It's not really my specialty.

[There's a long silence.]

I'm not entirely certain you'll find anything worthwhile, but it's been some time since the scientific community finished with me. If you'd really like a sample I can provide without severe physical duress, you can have one.

[Why is he allowing this. Seriously. He has to admit, he's never really had anyone running any honest-to-gods tests on him since he woke up, and he's curious about this now that all his monsters save Chaos appear to be sealed. Thankfully he doesn't have the memories of labs and needles that most of Hojo's experiments do, so he's not prone to panic attacks. It's just that no one's ever asked, here or back home.]

Just...tell me if you find anything.

Sure. You...uh...want to...

[Argh. Awkward is like a beast, lying in wait]

...buffet?

I'll be in red.

[Click.

Vincent will be sitting off in a booth toward the back when Kimiko arrives, sipping that oversweetened tea he likes way too much.]

[Kim's warily shy curiosity is perfectly typical of her ventures outside the room. Still, it's not as if Vincent were difficult to find, frumpy red crow-bird that he is. She's wearing a clunky case over one shoulder, and grips the straps tightly, as if to avoid having to do anything else with her hands.]

Hi. I'm uh...Kimiko.

[He barely tilts his head up at her approach, glowing red eyes flicking up and down to look her over, then gives a short nod.]

Vincent Valentine.

[Another look away, eyes closed as he takes one final sip of his tea, then he sets the cup down and looks at her properly, turning slightly in his seat to face her more fully.]

What exactly do you need for this?

[He is not getting cold feet. He is NOT getting cold feet. It's normal anxiety, really. Vincent keeps his breathing as measured as possible.]

[Kim holds up a nice, nonthreatening q-tip. It's unusually long, but it's just your average, every day cotton-dollop on a stick.]

Just a swab.

[Well, that's significantly less traumatic than Vincent was expecting.]

Simple enough.

[He knows how this goes, of course, he's had it done more than once. Rather than taking the swab himself--which would result in contamination and an incorrect sample--he leans forward slightly and opens his mouth.

His teeth are just barely sharper than normal, but it's not enough to mean much. He might just have naturally occurring prominent canines and incisors and--okay, no, he doesn't, but it's still a subtle enough difference it shouldn't matter much.]

[Kim sets the case on the table, swabs him, then opens the case. The inside is a mess of wires and glowing little LEDs peering from the cracks, like spider's eyes. When she slides the sample into a fluid-filed recess it clicks and beeps with a low, electrical hum. Every now and again a soft tumble of taps as some deep internal cog or toggle flashes over, but by the large the majority of the internal workings are silent.

While it works, she removes what seems to be a re-purposed palmpilot and plugs a connecting jack into the machine. It chimes cheerfully at this development, and the screen lights up like an expectant child, displaying row after row of symbols- Presumedly Vincent's DNA.]

There. Now let's...

[She does a definite double-take, then makes a disgusted face. and turns the screen to show Vinnie himself. There, in very clear words:

HOJO WUZ HEER. GAST SUX!]

What the hell?!

[Vincent blinks. And takes a deeeeep breath. As he lets it out he slowly, very slowly, reaches up to palm his face with his human hand.]

The worst part is, I'm not surprised.

[He should be, really, because that's beyond low--although it is a bit of a scientific achievement, so he assumes Hojo didn't figure it out on his own--but...well, it's Hojo. His definition of "low" is two feet from the planet's core, and his sense of humor always left quite a bit to be desired.]

...And I thought the pyramid scheme in my DNA was bad...

[Kim examines the code a bit more, scrolling slowly, with an expression that indicates that there's...more. She's made artificial life forms before, but this is just...untidy.]

So...what are you?

[Someone forgot to order extra tact, again]

[With a low sigh, Vincent pulls his hand away and picks his tea back up, taking a long sip before he trusts himself to reply. This is infuriating. Embarrassing, and infuriating.

The questions doesn't seem to bother him much, although that might just be because he's already working so hard to keep from exploding in a rage at the kind of lengths that HACK went to just to screw him over.]

My customary answer would be "not what I was," but I think...you're probably looking for something a little more scientific.

[Sip.]

A...colleague, if you could call him that, killed me when I was twenty-seven. He used my body in a series of human experiments. I'm not entirely certain the purpose of most of them--

[Except as a measure of prototype for the SOLDIER program, testing difference enhancement processes and the like.]

--but I'd guess that was put into place fairly early in his playing. He was known for being more than a little spiteful.

[Kim just. Stares. She's not above human experimentation, not even a little, but this is a little different somehow. Then again, Kim would also never develop for military applications.]

I thought this looked altered, even without the graffiti. Hm. Well, thank...I guess.

"Altered" is an understatement.

[He taps his fingers on the table in mixed patterns, the closest he lets himself get to fidgeting. He really wants to punch something. He hasn't wanted to punch something this badly in a very, very long time.]

I'd offer a blood sample if I didn't think it might be damaging to your equipment.

Regardless, you're welcome. I think.

[Kim is immune to his internal rage— or maybe she just doesn't realize how ticked off her is]

It's fine. I could probably fix this, if...We ever get anywhere. I have a theory about this ship, but I don't want to discuss it on the comms because I'm pretty sure that, no matter what you put on there, they can still read it, and the Captain's been less than scientific about his knowledge gathering.

Besides, I'm going to get results.

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