i'm not-- what do you think i'm doing here?

no, why?

i'm just about to polish her.

be careful with that!

why are all the hot ones *insane*?

that's right. it's basically the only thing i'm good at, too. and i had to work to *eat* . . . but i got there, going from job to job, each one with more freedom than the last. some were legit. but i kept going. i had to. i mean, all i had left was the sidrat, that's my ship, and my wounds.

well, i'm still flesh, unfortunately. i'm susceptible to all its weaknesses. when i was in your position - i guess i still am - i'd just gotten out of the war. i didn't know what to do. it took me a few years to start guiding myself to where i needed to be, physically, emotionally, and such.

( his face troubled: ) yeah. i . . . can relate to that. getting through the day's just enough?

what's it all for? a . . . compendium? a bestiary?

do you realize how much of the universe that's describing?

predators?

what are you researching?

very lucky. it's in good condition, considering it's . . . well. are you offering tours?

i think i understand. are there others like you or is this all just for you?

i feel like i've just walked over my own grave.

how does it work? two interfaces meeting?

impressive tech.

#Liked #Reposted

probably just a couple faulty circuits that natasha didn't install right. for one, why does he speak italian?

hey anyone else getting a bad vibe from the talking tv lately or is it just me???

how much do you know about alien spaceships?

What's that racket I hear?

i've put nat to work moving our stock so far. i want you to look at this cocoon with me.

come in @shatteredscience.bsky.social? are you receiving me? over.

stop screaming! i can't hear the lyrics.

club tropicana???

i learned that one under the grand shool kakith. endurance is a hell of a drug. ( stretching. ) hnnnnngh. breakfast?

told you you'd be impressed.

hey man i'd love to hang but unfortunately tonight i'm investigating The Cosmic Mysteries of the Cocoon

fine. i promise.

me? i'm as good as gold.

ALERT: Reconnaissance Pod: Docking. @shatteredscience.bsky.social @crackedchessboard.bsky.social

hey, i know. why don't i come with you? you can introduce me. and while we're there i'll tell you all about it.

same as any old love story. haven't you got a tar-dis to see to?

brave? no. stupid and horny. and she was a bad, bad influence.

that's 'cos i'm older now. and i did survive a war . . . y'know, i used to date my commander's daughter. got me in all kinds of trouble down the line.

maybe. but how would that account for all the stuff that repeats itself? sometimes it feels like . . . i don't know, if there *is* something out there, it's sure as hell screwing with us. whatever, i mean, i haven't believed in any kind of . . . divinity for years and years. my big vice was girls.

they don't. i guess you're too young to have seen the war, least of all the worst of it. at the time, we were . . . things ran so fast. i mean, we were just too busy to think. i dunno, you see the same stuff, all the time. time's just a flat circle, so they say, right? war will happen again.

the heavenly minds. time, pain, death and her twin, life, their cousin fate and . . . well, you get the idea. i don't know. i can't believe it. never could. i just did what i was told. by the time of the war my childhood would've been branded extremist. i had to lie just to sign up.

not at all. a fact's a fact, isn't it? we shouldn't be afraid of facts, valerie. ( pointedly: ) nor should we be afraid of telling them. even when it hurts. the way i was raised, everything was already predetermined, that there was no such thing as free will. the menti celesti had decreed it.

i was raised not to believe in coincidence. but that's religion for you.

it's dark in here; dusty, too. thank cruk for my air filter, huh? i'm not picking up any lifesigns. none. i'm patching my suit readings through via the pod. there's . . . signage, i think, on these walls, but i can't *read it*. some form of communication. let me try and patch it through.

my best friend can take care of herself. i trust her like that. oh, how funny. that's sidrat backwards.

curiosity, that's all. what's got you so paranoid? i'm not going to barge in or anything, if that's what you're antsy about.

how do you spell that? tar-dis, i mean.

it's a place? a ship?

tar-dis. you've used that word before. what is it?

doing . . . what?

i'm docking now.

is this thing on? hello?