Hiding in plain view. ((open to anyone!))

[chiron_survivor]

She didn't flee to the Nexus immediately. At first, she was just in shock. The cylons were back, except this time, they were running the government. A "coalition" government, but everyone knew what that really meant.

It didn't make sense to her. They hated humans. Why not just destroy them and be done with it?

Her boyfriend assumed it was some sort of elaborate revenge plot, or a way to salvage the aspects of humanity the cylons considered worth keeping. He wanted her to agree with him, to be red-hot about it, too, but Adia was too distracted. She kept seeing Caspar's face -- the one she thought she knew -- and comparing it with the ones she kept seeing, wherever she went.

She could tell it was bothering him, that her attention was elsewhere.

Later, in the middle of the night when she knew she wouldn't be missed by any humans, and prayed she wouldn't be missed by any cylons, she PINpointed to the Nexus.

She sat at a Nexus terminal and typed out a message for anyone to read.

The cylons are on New Caprica.

Only then did she cry.

Comments

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

Adia pokes at the water stains on the table top while Lich is at the bar, her gaze unfocused. Her mind is still stuck on religion, however useless it is to dwell on. She wonders how the cylons developed a religion in the first place. They certainly didn't need a creation myth, or even stories about the afterlife. Who needs Hades when you can just download into a new body?

She has a good guess what he chose for her, based on the shape of the glass and the color of a liquid. Her guess is confirmed when she takes a sip, screwing her face up a little as it burns its way down her throat, but in a good way. "Thanks," she says. "I used to drink hot toddies on Aquarion."

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

He watches her expression carefully, but once she thanks him he feels free to sip his own drink. "Hot toddies? Is drinking a big part of your culture? Other than the cults, of course."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"Hot tea and brandy," she explains before taking another sip. The brandy goes down a little easier this time, but Lich does not have to worry about Adia chugging her drink. "Somehow the brandy doesn't taste so strong when it's warm..."

She blinks at his question, unsure how to answer. "I guess. I mean, it's something to be enjoyed, not overdone. Leonis had a lot of vineyards. We produced a lot of good wine. But we didn't have alcohol with every meal or anything like that. How about where you're from?"

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

He raises an eyebrow. That was not a drink combination he would have thought of. Then again, he doesn't think about drinks on a regular basis.

It's such a curious thought; that Leonis, this alien planet so far removed from his own reality, would have vineyards just like his world. The thoughtful look passes and he answers her question a moment later. "Where I come from, a pint is usually a treat that you get as often as you can. It's a business the economy can rely on sticking around. I'm certain that many would overdo it if they afford to."

He makes a thoughtful noise. "Perhaps that explains the insistence on having a sensible wife."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"I think I'd take that cake I had over the pint, most times," Adia comments, looking into her drink. "But I suppose there's always a market for both. People need treats, otherwise life can get very hard..."

His final comment makes her look up, a little confused by the change in subject. "Someone pressuring you to settle down?" If not for the burden of current events, Adia probably would have sounded more teasing, but she manages to muster up some amusement. "Isn't it your sister's job to keep you out of trouble?"

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

"Next time I will insist you have Black Forest gateau, or another alcohol infused cake," he offers as a compromise. "Presuming you find yourself in need of either again."

He blinks at her questions. "Yes, no. Ah... No. It's mine. I just thought it was a good explanation for the insistence of a nice family unit. It would keep alcoholics on a straighter, narrower path. Not that I am an alcoholic. Or being pressured to settle down for my own benefit." Much.

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." She smiles faintly. Her trip to Martel's world is a fond memory, one she cherishes, and not just because of the cake.

Adia gives his response some thought while she takes another swallow of brandy. "I've heard a lot of reasons to get married," she replies finally. "I guess that's one of them. But I wouldn't want the responsibility of keeping someone on the straight and narrow. Is that the main life path, on your world? To get married, have kids, that sort of thing?"

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

Lichtenstein nods in agreement about the responsibility involved. There are people who don't mind that responsibility, of course, but Lichtenstein always thought them strange. He takes a generous swig of his drink before he answers. "That would depend on who you ask. For my mother, it was. For my father, it was second only to professional excellence. For some people I have met, just surviving seems to be enough."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

It's the first time Martel has mentioned his parents that Adia can remember and she pauses a little before speaking. "That's how it is where I am, too. It's sort of expected that eventually you'll meet the right person, or people, and start a family, but since the war started, a lot of people have put that on hold." Another small pause, and then she asks, "What were your parents like?" It doesn't sound like it's a sore spot for him, but one can never tell. Very few people her age have living parents, unless their entire family was able to escape the destruction of the colonies.

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

It is always interesting to see how similar their world's are, despite the different culture and situation. Her question makes him hesitate and frown a little. In fairness to her, he was the one who brought them up and he is well aware that it is customary to ask about these things.

Lichtenstein sets down his drink and shrugs. "My mother was my sister's teacher, my father my own. My father was... He was like myself in regards to his fascination with medicine. Though for some reason, which I will never understand, continuously aspired to be regarded as Upper Class." He mouth twitches. "He was a good doctor, but a talentless socialiser."

He sighs and taps his glass absently. "My mother was a good housemaker, a good wife and a good mother. She excelled at keeping the family... stable."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

Adia doesn't miss the subtext of his reply, listening with an apologetic expression on her face for bringing it up. She can't help but wonder what happened to them, but she knows it'd be far too rude to ask. "Must have been frustrating, watching him try," she ventures tentatively.

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

"For everyone other than himself, it seemed," he remarked with the vaguest of amused tones. "I tend not to talk about him. That way Helena keeps her idealised image of him. She didn't know him well. It's best."

His brow lifts as a thought occurs to him. "Ironic that I don't talk of the dead, but I'll talk to them."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"I used to talk about my parents all the time," Adia muses after another sip of brandy. "I miss them so much. But almost everyone I know has lost their families." She adds, looking regretful, "Must be crowded in our afterworld..." How foolish she was, to try to contact Caspar when the chance arose. She should have tried to reach her parents.

"Have you ever tried to contact someone you knew? Or is that too awkward?"

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

Despite her mentioning her parents before, Lichtenstein had never considered that their passing might still upset Adia. The more he thinks about it, the more he realises that there are a few painful things in Adia's life that she keeps close. "Does it help? Talking about them."

Her question, as her questions often do, makes him frown. There's a long silence before he replies. "No. I wouldn't hold any value in it." He sits up and takes a breath before explaining. "When I contact someone, I... it is another plane, yes, but it's not an afterlife, exactly. I don't believe it is. I don't believe there is an afterlife. Perhaps that's why I don't enter one, or don't see it as one. Perhaps there simply isn't one in my world. I contact... To the average person they might appear to be souls, but they're only the gathered remnants of one, as far as I'm concerned. Like taking many echoes and getting a voice."

He relaxes back into his seat. "I don't believe I'm doing what people pay me to do. Telling people this is very bad for business." He pauses, his frown deepening. "You must understand, I know that perhaps I should have explained this to you before, but... It's the closest anyone comes to speaking to the dead. It almost always gets the expected result."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes." Her gaze drops, almost guiltily. "I was very close to them. They were good parents. But when you're grieving, you don't always know what will make things better and what won't."

Perhaps it's her exhaustion, or maybe the brandy, but it takes her a few seconds for what he's telling her to sink in. It makes sense, of course, considering Martel's religious views, but she can't help but feel a little hurt. "Good thing Caspar isn't dead, then," she murmurs, too tired or too insecure to chastise him further.

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

"Better to not know what to do, and have lost little, than to know how to cope and lost much," he mumbles, then looks up from his drink. "Unless you have a different set of values, of course."

He doesn't know why he feels concerned about telling her now that he has. She deserved to know the facts as he saw them. That's what scientists do, isn't it? Share facts. "Mm, perhaps." A moment of silence before, "How would you know it was him? If he did find you, could you tell the difference between an imposter and the real Caspar?"

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"If only I had lost little," She replies with a sad smile. "Nobody else seems to know what to do with their grief, either, so at least I'm not alone."

That's a good question, one that keeps her quiet for a minute. She fills up the time with a long swallow of brandy and careful placement of her glass back on the table while she thinks. "If one of his model really wanted to deceive me -- I don't know. But I... I've passed a few of them, and when they look at me, it's like they don't even see me. There would be some recognition in his eyes." She hopes. It's a horrible feeling that he would just look right through her, like all the others.

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

"If nobody knows the right way to react yet, then it will be extremely difficult to deal with it in the wrong way," he points out.

Lichtenstein hums to himself and takes a sip of his drink as he thinks about this. "Perhaps their talent at imitating human emotion is an advantage to you then. After all, not all of them necessarily know how to disguise it."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"That's true," she admits. She sips her brandy and then looks at him for a moment. "If you told me this already, I'm sorry for forgetting, but how long ago was it when magic took over your world?"

She shuts her eyes, grateful that he didn't try to play devil's advocate and take away her tenuous hope. "Maybe. They certainly seem... I don't know. Like they don't quite understand us." She opens her eyes again and stares up at the ceiling. "Julia, she... she acts so naive sometimes. It's weird. Like she's genuinely surprised that no one wants to work with her."

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

He looks away to think for a moment, doing a little calculating before he answers. "One hundred and twenty... seven? Yes, one hundred and twenty seven years ago since it was recognised worldwide."

Lichtenstein frowns, and takes the opportunity to drink while he listens. "That's tricky. If Caspar really didn't know what he was until a certain point, then maybe some of her understanding is also blocked. That does raise the question of how much power their seniors have over them."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"Wow," Adia murmurs. It's a little encouraging to know that humanity has survived over a century past such a calamity. "Do people still grieve over what was lost?"

"I don't know if they have that kind of organization," she replies, gaze dropping. "I don't want to assume anything. But it kind of makes it obvious that they aren't human. Even if they have the same emotions we do."

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

"Some people do." Himself included, though he doesn't like the idea of himself grieving over anything. His grandfather, on the other hand, used to mourn that lost world quite loudly. "People are starting to forget what it used to be like. The past is becoming a series of fairy tales."

"Mm." Another minute of silence as Lichtenstein mulls over his drink. "Do they want to be seen as human at all? Do they still want to integrate, or do they want to be seen as cylon?"

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

"It isn't all written down somewhere? Preserved?" She sighs. "We're trying to preserve what we can but there is plenty in our distant history that is just myth and legend now."

"No, they definitely don't want to be seen as human. They want to live alongside us, but even the ones who act like they care about humans still think they're better than us." She shrugs a little. "We can't, um... I don't think we're compatible, genetically."

[nevertrustcrows.livejournal.com]

"It must be. Unfortunately, I'm neither rich enough or have a high enough social standing to walk into a private library and see for myself." He looks understandably sulky about this and broods behind his drink while Adia talks. "You would think that by now we would have learned to stop fact becoming myth. Humans as a whole, I mean."

He gives a vague grunt, thinking before speaking. "If they wanted to be like you then you might be able to rest on equal ground. It's hard to tell what they want with things being the way you describe them."

[chiron-survivor.livejournal.com]

Adia sits up a little straighter, indignant on Martel's behalf. "What? You mean people just hoard books and don't let anyone except their rich friends see them? That's awful..." She shakes her head a little and adds, "There are wars, though, and catastrophe. Written records get destroyed. You have to have things written down exactly or better yet, photographs and videos, or facts get messed with almost as soon as they happen."

She nods somberly and drains a bit more of her glass. "I have to remind myself that they may not have the same motivations we do. All this time, I assumed they wanted revenge, but... I don't know, maybe it's more complicated than that."