001 [video]

[dogsanddaughters]

[Have a wide-eyed teenager fussing with her phone. The video is a little shaky. She's sitting in one of the apartments, Barnaby's head in her lap, and seems to be sincerely cheerful despite waking up someplace far from home. Miriam waves.]

Hi! Looks like we're all stuck here for a bit, so I figured I'd introduce myself and what not. It kinda sucks right now, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna meet you guys! Anyway, I'm Miriam, and this handsome dude is Barnaby.

[Barnaby sneezes.]

He's my guy, so don't shoot him or anything. He won't do anything bad.

Two things.

First, uh, I know it's a long shot and all, but anybody seen a lady named Bethany? She's really tall and she's got brown hair and she's my mom, so it'd be really cool if I could find her. Maybe she's not here, but I gotta ask.

Secondly--

[Miriam holds up a crude drawing to the phone. It's the logo for the Sons of Plunder - a human skull with blue roses for eyes.]

--anybody walking around wearing this? Asking for a friend.

Comments

[dogsanddaughters]

Yeah! He's really smart! He can do a lot of stuff. [Miriam glances down at Barnaby, who doesn't look particularly inclined to demonstrate any of his talents.] Well, maybe not right now, but he is!

[Miriam clicks her teeth.] No, no, he's really nice! You can come play with him sometime, if you want.

[tongueamok]

[Welp, there goes his excitement -- it drains from his face to be replaced by trepidation.]

Play? Play with the dog? Er, Barnaby?

[dogsanddaughters]

[Don't be nervous, dude! Come wrestle with the cyberneticly enhanced death machine. What could possibly go wrong? Miriam nods.] You can wrestle with him! It's fun. Or just throw stuff and he'll bring it back.

[She hesitates.] I mean, he's big, but he's nice. You can just pet him, if you want. His ears are really soft.

[tongueamok]

[Yep. "Wrestle with the cybernetically enhanced death machine" is right at the top of his list of things not to do.]

I'm, uh. [Another nervous laugh.] I'm not exactly one for rough-and-tumble activities. Sparring and such. Even with a dog. I wouldn't mind petting him at some point, though. The dog. Barnaby.

[Just going to keep saying his name in the event she somehow forgot he was talking about the dog, which she clearly hasn't.

Another, brief pause.]

I've never pet a dog.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Where's your sense of adventure, Carlisle?]

Oh, well, that's okay too! He's really nice.

[She pauses.] They don't have dogs where you're from?

[tongueamok]

[He has no sense of adventure, Miriam. Adventure is terrible. And dangerous. Terribly dangerous.]

Oh no, we do have dogs. Lots of people have dogs. Not many people in Bear Den -- I'm mean, there's really only one dog there, and he doesn't leave his home much.

[Much like Carlisle. He and said dog would probably get along in that regard.]

But yes, there are dogs. I just haven't had the, er... pleasure of making one's acquaintance.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Buddy, you're gonna have so much fun in Hadriel.]

Oh. Are there real bears in Bear Den? I've never seen a bear.

Well, you can meet Barnaby! He's the best dog ever.

[tongueamok]

Yes, he does seem like good dog. Or at least a smart one. Sharp.

[Albeit a little on the lazy end currently, though compared to the only other dog he knows -- an aging hunting hound by the name of Stumbles -- Barnaby seems lively.]

There are indeed bears in Bear Den. Or around Bear Den. Sometimes in it, though! Awful thing, when they come wandering into the square, d- doing bear things. Being bears. They're big in person, bears. Much bigger and, er... much more, ah.

[There's those nerves again, eking into his voice as he swallows them down. He does not seem like he wants to talk about bears.]

They don't look so bad in pictures.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Miriam rubs Barnaby's ears again, smiling.] Yeah, he's my guy.

Whooooa. Can they really stand up on two legs? I saw pictures one time.

[tongueamok]

Yes. Yes they can. Awfully big when they do that. Probably better if you never meet one.

[dogsanddaughters]

Oh. I guess they would be. I heard they can climb trees. Can they climb trees too?

[tongueamok]

[Getting a lot harder to hold that nervous smile and look like he's not completely and utterly terrified of the subject matter.]

Yes, they do that, as well. Good climbers. Really unfortunate for an- anyone hoping to hide in a tree. They'll catch you there, yes.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Wait. Waaaait. Miriam's eyes go wide.]

Ohhhhh. Did it try to eat you?

[tongueamok]

What? No. Hah, no. No no no no. That's- that's ridiculous. I know all too well how d- dangerous bears can be. I'm an expert, really. On the dangerousness of bears. It's just better to avoid them entirely.

[Annnd a pause.]

I mean, I might have had one run-in with a bear, in my youth. But that's all. Just smart to avoid bears all together. Dangerous things, bears.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Miriam just gives him a look. Would you like to a child, Carlisle? Would you lie to the child currently giving you her very best puppy eyes?] Right. But you live in a place called Bear Den? Isn't that, like, contradictory or something?

[tongueamok]

[He apparently would lie to a child, at least a little.]

Well, it's called that because of the bear dens that are in the area. Though it might also be named for when the founder of the town got trapped in a bear cave. It really depends on whom you ask.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Aww, Carlisle. Shame. Though to be fair, Miriam can and will cheat your pants off if you ever play her in cards. Miriam and the truth have a complicated relationship.]

That's a good name for a place, then. [She makes a face.] Man, Echo Six was just the factory designation. It doesn't mean anything. At least your place has a backstory.

[tongueamok]

Factory designation?

[dogsanddaughters]

Yeah, it's a space station. They make them standard? Or they used to, anyway. [Miriam shrugs, petting Barnaby.] It's an Echo class, and it was the sixth one. So, Echo Six.

[tongueamok]

Ah. Space.

[The way he says that indicates that's another topic he's not fond of.]

So... it wasn't a ship? More like some kind of... [Vague hand gesture.] Settlement? But in space?

[dogsanddaughters]

[Miriam grins.] Yeah! Ships move, but stations don't. I mean, we got a lot of ships who stopped there, but they don't stay. You ever been on one?

[tongueamok]

I've, er... been on a ship before. A space ship. The Tranquility.

[Been on a space ship, but never pet a dog. What an odd life you lead, Carlisle.]

[dogsanddaughters]

Oh, cool! Is it big? How many engines?

[tongueamok]

I- I couldn't tell you. I'm not terribly familiar with the sort of technology that powered it.

[Or technology at all. It took him a couple of days to even make it onto the network here.]

It was big, though. Larger than any vessel I've seen. Like a flying citadel.

[dogsanddaughters]

[Miriam scrunches up her nose, trying to picture a ship that big.] That might...might be a Phoenix class, but I don't really know. They don't make those anymore.

[She pauses.] So you've got ships, but no space stations?