Gregory House, MD (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rubikscomplex) wrote2015-08-27 10:05 am
rubikscomplex) wrote2015-08-27 10:05 am
Entry tags:
It's Jim., and now who's using made up-sounding words?
And I wasn't the one who hit the trip wire to blow up the planet it was on, alright? I was just there when it happened.
And I wasn't the one who hit the trip wire to blow up the planet it was on, alright? I was just there when it happened.
[Jim helped him figure it out!]
Nah, he seems pretty cool.
Even if he does make a lot of announcements.
Earlier we met a couple of strange guys.
During the night actually.
Around the school while we were checking things out.
Not that they really talked
Or wanted to be seen. They had a keycard that they rubbed on everything.
They kept to themsleves and then one changed after having a seizure.
He wore a mask and only talked on the tablet.
Ever come across them?
Really, really weird, man.
Brian knows them apparently.
Oh, Jim says hi by the way.
Might make another trip to here and the school.
But after we hit the new area. Are you going that way?
Nah, he seems pretty cool.
Even if he does make a lot of announcements.
Earlier we met a couple of strange guys.
During the night actually.
Around the school while we were checking things out.
Not that they really talked
Or wanted to be seen. They had a keycard that they rubbed on everything.
They kept to themsleves and then one changed after having a seizure.
He wore a mask and only talked on the tablet.
Ever come across them?
Really, really weird, man.
Brian knows them apparently.
Oh, Jim says hi by the way.
Might make another trip to here and the school.
But after we hit the new area. Are you going that way?
I am not. [The answer is sharp and immediate, and telling as such.] I speak five languages. I can quote Plato and Aristotle. I know how to calculate latitude and as much longitude as anyone. And anyone who really had me and didn't keep me would be sorry. [She breathes in sharply.]
And anyway the smartest man I know can't even ride a horse. So if glitch you wants to abuse either of us with this nonsense he can go stick it under a donkey's tail!
And anyway the smartest man I know can't even ride a horse. So if glitch you wants to abuse either of us with this nonsense he can go stick it under a donkey's tail!
you saw a PLANET explode?
sick
also pretty much impossible
but cool in a sci-fi way
so, what?
was the tripwire tied to a bomb at the planet's core?
was the planet a giant machine?
was it called the death star?
sick
also pretty much impossible
but cool in a sci-fi way
so, what?
was the tripwire tied to a bomb at the planet's core?
was the planet a giant machine?
was it called the death star?
[That list of 'skills' gets a raise of his brows. Someone's got a chip on her shoulder.]
Agreed. So who did tell you you're a worthless little brat? I mean before this. 'Cause you're wearing a sign about four feet tall that says 'issues.' I'm guessing you're little Orphan Annie, so not Mom and Pops.
Agreed. So who did tell you you're a worthless little brat? I mean before this. 'Cause you're wearing a sign about four feet tall that says 'issues.' I'm guessing you're little Orphan Annie, so not Mom and Pops.
Edited 2016-03-21 02:24 (UTC)
What? No! [The reference to issues and Annies may be confusing her. She understands orphan, though.] My parents are just fine back in Simla. And it isn't your bus-
[Wait, actually - ]
I'll tell you what's the matter with me if you tell me what's the matter with you. Were you injured in a war? Don't lie. I'll know.
[Wait, actually - ]
I'll tell you what's the matter with me if you tell me what's the matter with you. Were you injured in a war? Don't lie. I'll know.
Tit for tat, huh? [Well, it's not like he makes a secret out of it if she thinks she's somehow 'wringing' something out of him. And it's... not technically even an issue anymore. Anyway.]
Well, you're seriously from the 1800s. No. No war. It was an infarction. Your turn. [That is, technically, what the matter was. Whether she understands what that means or not. She'll have to bargain harder or pony up more info on her side.]
Well, you're seriously from the 1800s. No. No war. It was an infarction. Your turn. [That is, technically, what the matter was. Whether she understands what that means or not. She'll have to bargain harder or pony up more info on her side.]
[Hmm... Well, Jack said he had experience with explosives. God help them all.]
that'll be timmy
and the jayster, probably
let's call them tweedle dee and tweedle dumb, respectively
know tweedle dee's been missing his meds for a while
think brian keeps swiping them
other kid with the mask
well, anyway
have fun
i'm heading downtown
that's not an invitation
every man for himself or whatever
that'll be timmy
and the jayster, probably
let's call them tweedle dee and tweedle dumb, respectively
know tweedle dee's been missing his meds for a while
think brian keeps swiping them
other kid with the mask
well, anyway
have fun
i'm heading downtown
that's not an invitation
every man for himself or whatever
Tit for tat. [So that's how he wants to play it. Kesara sees the game at once, and rises to it like a viper out of a basket.]
I'm a living warning against the dangers of miscegenation. [She recites it with scientific disinterest. That is, technically, what the matter is.] Your turn again. Was it just a stupid accident?
I'm a living warning against the dangers of miscegenation. [She recites it with scientific disinterest. That is, technically, what the matter is.] Your turn again. Was it just a stupid accident?
You're a know-it-all little punk and people think it's because you've got interracial parents? [There's a sigh and Kesara can probably hear the eye roll in it.]
It was stupid. Not an accident. Know what a heart attack is? Myocardial infarction. Means there's a clot that stops your blood circulating somewhere. Happens in your heart, it's a heart attack. Happens in your brain, it's a stroke. It happened in my thigh.
It was stupid. Not an accident. Know what a heart attack is? Myocardial infarction. Means there's a clot that stops your blood circulating somewhere. Happens in your heart, it's a heart attack. Happens in your brain, it's a stroke. It happened in my thigh.
It just... happened? [Kesara sounds doubtful, but only a little; the undertone of horror is pronounced. This is neither the heroic nor the humiliating story she was expecting. It's just sad.
On the bright side, for him at least, the moment of empathy - she feels a cringe in her own leg - gets him a moment of openness, in a small voice.] I have a - a mental defect. I can't read.
On the bright side, for him at least, the moment of empathy - she feels a cringe in her own leg - gets him a moment of openness, in a small voice.] I have a - a mental defect. I can't read.
Yep. Sometimes that kind of crap just happens. Problem was, the only symptom was pain. So, the idiots treating me told me it was a pulled muscle, sent me home and told me it'd get better. [There's the slightest edge of bitterness.] Blood carries oxygen. The cells inside you need oxygen to survive. When they don't have it, they start to die. Muscle death. Never try it. Trust me.
So, I'm guessing this 'mental defect' is that no one ever taught you to read. Or you have dyslexia. In which case, no one ever taught you to read the right way.
So, I'm guessing this 'mental defect' is that no one ever taught you to read. Or you have dyslexia. In which case, no one ever taught you to read the right way.
I'll try not to. [Her voice is still faint. She wonders if she should say she is sorry.] But sometimes it just happens. [Meaningless things are the scariest things. She sits for a long moment, silence on the line, and just rubs her leg, wondering if it really hurts a little, or it's just her imagination.]
Is that why you became a physician? [That would make it a little less meaningless, at least. She can't get a proper rise when he fires off his guess. It just stays sad, her answering voice.] I don't know what dyslexia means, but many people taught me, in all sorts of ways. It never stuck - I mean, English never did. I learned tricks around it. Good tricks.
Is that why you became a physician? [That would make it a little less meaningless, at least. She can't get a proper rise when he fires off his guess. It just stays sad, her answering voice.] I don't know what dyslexia means, but many people taught me, in all sorts of ways. It never stuck - I mean, English never did. I learned tricks around it. Good tricks.
[She really shouldn't say she's sorry.]
Nope. I was a doctor way before that. Had to diagnose myself and everything in the end.
Dyslexia's just a way of saying your brain processes written language differently. The fact you learned tricks around it pretty much proves you're not defective, but whatever. [This isn't a motivational speech, it's educational.] Have you been able to learn the writing systems for other languages? Ones without the English alphabet? You clearly know numbers if you're calculating lat and and longs.
Nope. I was a doctor way before that. Had to diagnose myself and everything in the end.
Dyslexia's just a way of saying your brain processes written language differently. The fact you learned tricks around it pretty much proves you're not defective, but whatever. [This isn't a motivational speech, it's educational.] Have you been able to learn the writing systems for other languages? Ones without the English alphabet? You clearly know numbers if you're calculating lat and and longs.
[She gets that sense. But what else is there? Well - there is always anger. Anger helps.]
It's terrible being the only one who knows how to do anything right, isn't it? And it's worst when you're the only one who knows what to do with you!
[She has a smidgen of experience in these matters, young as she is, so her anger is genuine. But his diagnosis, if that is what it is, makes her deflate slightly again.] It isn't different if it just doesn't work. That's what defective means exactly. But numbers are fine. [And then she brightens, as though sharing the best secret in the world.] And Chinese is fine, maybe. I can read and write forty whole words in Chinese!
It's terrible being the only one who knows how to do anything right, isn't it? And it's worst when you're the only one who knows what to do with you!
[She has a smidgen of experience in these matters, young as she is, so her anger is genuine. But his diagnosis, if that is what it is, makes her deflate slightly again.] It isn't different if it just doesn't work. That's what defective means exactly. But numbers are fine. [And then she brightens, as though sharing the best secret in the world.] And Chinese is fine, maybe. I can read and write forty whole words in Chinese!
[House is... honestly a little surprised that a child can empathize with that and react better than most adults to something he's said. All right. Her stock is on the rise again after that annoying whining.]
Mandarin or Cantonese? I can probably teach you a few more if we ever meet up if it's the first one. Anyway, English is a bitch of a language. Some people just have trouble with certain alphabets. Doesn't really matter much if you've got a work around, but they have programs in the future for that kind of thing.
Mandarin or Cantonese? I can probably teach you a few more if we ever meet up if it's the first one. Anyway, English is a bitch of a language. Some people just have trouble with certain alphabets. Doesn't really matter much if you've got a work around, but they have programs in the future for that kind of thing.
Night 93
*Tonight Brian and Jade are touring a small book store, an accessory store and a large library.
The bookstore's shelves are mostly empty (surprise, surprise) but there are a few books still there. They mostly seem to be fictional and range from novels to picture books. None of the books have dates or prices on them.
The building itself is dark, as there are clearly not enough windows to light everything. There's a back room that's locked but Brian doesn't spend much time at it once discovering the door can't be opened.
The accessory store was once brightly colored but is now worn, damp and slightly moldy. There are still some scarves, bags, costume jewelry and other accessories in the store but most of it seems ruined.
The library is large, consisting of two floors and has sections that one'd normally expect in a library and a few study rooms. There are also some lounge areas, including a children's libary and a teen's library, both of which have beanbag chairs. At one point Brian cuts open a beanbag chair in the teen's library but there's only normal beanbag chair stuff inside of it. Occasionally there are tables and chairs that look like they once had computers but, like everywhere else, the electronics have been removed.
The library, like the bookstore, is mostly empty of books. The books, and few magazines, that exist are once again void of dates and suggested retail pricing. The magazines also lack address labels. There's also a section for movies and video games but it's completely empty.*
Night 94
*Much less of interest this day as most of the area seems to be snow and rubble. (Brian thankfully doesn't send ALL of their rubble wanderings, just bits here and there. Enough to get the idea that there isn't much else to be found.) The only building the pair find is a storage unit that is sadly lacking in lighting. Brian explores it by tablet-light and discovers only illegible and/or crumbling books.*
Night 95
*More rubble, more snow, and eventually a return to the building from the night before. Brian and Jade go through the storage unit again and gets much of the same results.
They do find a book cover that looks interesting, something about miniaturization in technology...but the book itself is completely missing.*
*Tonight Brian and Jade are touring a small book store, an accessory store and a large library.
The bookstore's shelves are mostly empty (surprise, surprise) but there are a few books still there. They mostly seem to be fictional and range from novels to picture books. None of the books have dates or prices on them.
The building itself is dark, as there are clearly not enough windows to light everything. There's a back room that's locked but Brian doesn't spend much time at it once discovering the door can't be opened.
The accessory store was once brightly colored but is now worn, damp and slightly moldy. There are still some scarves, bags, costume jewelry and other accessories in the store but most of it seems ruined.
The library is large, consisting of two floors and has sections that one'd normally expect in a library and a few study rooms. There are also some lounge areas, including a children's libary and a teen's library, both of which have beanbag chairs. At one point Brian cuts open a beanbag chair in the teen's library but there's only normal beanbag chair stuff inside of it. Occasionally there are tables and chairs that look like they once had computers but, like everywhere else, the electronics have been removed.
The library, like the bookstore, is mostly empty of books. The books, and few magazines, that exist are once again void of dates and suggested retail pricing. The magazines also lack address labels. There's also a section for movies and video games but it's completely empty.*
Night 94
*Much less of interest this day as most of the area seems to be snow and rubble. (Brian thankfully doesn't send ALL of their rubble wanderings, just bits here and there. Enough to get the idea that there isn't much else to be found.) The only building the pair find is a storage unit that is sadly lacking in lighting. Brian explores it by tablet-light and discovers only illegible and/or crumbling books.*
Night 95
*More rubble, more snow, and eventually a return to the building from the night before. Brian and Jade go through the storage unit again and gets much of the same results.
They do find a book cover that looks interesting, something about miniaturization in technology...but the book itself is completely missing.*
[Some of it is faking, certainly, repeating what others have said - Dame Ariel most of all, who is forever the only one who knows how to do anything right. But Kesara is also used to adults less astute and educated than herself, and the trouble of talking to those. And anyway Dr. House is a fine fellow and she thinks, in her limited perspective, that he might have been a lot like her when he was younger.]
I mean to write! The letters are the same, you know. [He certainly knows, but he should know that she knows.]
Dr. Stein has taught me Mandarin, but Lao Dian speaks every dialect you care to name and he'll teach me those. But if you know how to write it - [her voice shivers with excitement] I'll do anything. I have to keep learning. I've given up on English, I just use my memory tricks, and if I talk about some future kind or program they'll just say I'm acting the child. But Chinese is my chance and I have to keep learning!
I mean to write! The letters are the same, you know. [He certainly knows, but he should know that she knows.]
Dr. Stein has taught me Mandarin, but Lao Dian speaks every dialect you care to name and he'll teach me those. But if you know how to write it - [her voice shivers with excitement] I'll do anything. I have to keep learning. I've given up on English, I just use my memory tricks, and if I talk about some future kind or program they'll just say I'm acting the child. But Chinese is my chance and I have to keep learning!
[Late at night, Kesara's voice comes piping in, very awake and in fact quite excited.]
Hullo, Dr. House, are you awake? I found something terrifying. A ghost gave it to me. A real one.
[There follows a video attachment.]
Hullo, Dr. House, are you awake? I found something terrifying. A ghost gave it to me. A real one.
[There follows a video attachment.]
[House's return messages are briefer vids.]
Night 93
[There's just the inside of the hot water house looking pretty boring apart from a brief view of Quark who's standing by the door looking anxious.]
Night 94
[It's a view that will be familiar to anyone who's entered the ice tunnels. Just a shot of the inside of Building 58. There's a shot of Ginger and Clayton in the little house along with House.]
Night 95
[The video cuts between the ice tunnels and the pharmacy, then a basement with an old firewood stove. It's extremely dark in here, and House's penlight is the only thing to show that the stove is there. He gets a few shots of the inside, but it looks to be empty.]
Night 93
[There's just the inside of the hot water house looking pretty boring apart from a brief view of Quark who's standing by the door looking anxious.]
Night 94
[It's a view that will be familiar to anyone who's entered the ice tunnels. Just a shot of the inside of Building 58. There's a shot of Ginger and Clayton in the little house along with House.]
Night 95
[The video cuts between the ice tunnels and the pharmacy, then a basement with an old firewood stove. It's extremely dark in here, and House's penlight is the only thing to show that the stove is there. He gets a few shots of the inside, but it looks to be empty.]
Find something to bring that's worth my time, and I'll teach you.
[He switches over to speaking Mandarin to test her:]
I'm fluent - written and spoken. I don't work for free. Looking for pieces to make a microscope. Find anything I can use, we can meet up. If you can't find anything like that, bring something that'll interest me.
[He switches over to speaking Mandarin to test her:]
I'm fluent - written and spoken. I don't work for free. Looking for pieces to make a microscope. Find anything I can use, we can meet up. If you can't find anything like that, bring something that'll interest me.
[House switches his voice to text on for incoming messages because he'd really rather not have a conversation that Joker's going to overhear. He watches the video a few times through before responding.]
interesting
the video
not the ghost
what do you mean one gave this to you?
where?
interesting
the video
not the ghost
what do you mean one gave this to you?
where?
It's a deal! [She's speaking Mandarin back already, fast, excited - a little archaic and florid, which stands to reason. In fact what she says is more like "what a satisfying realisation of matching interests!"]
I have the video logs I've taken of my exploring on the other side of the ice tunnels. But I'll also look for - you're trying to build a - xian... wei... [she stutters and slows, putting the meaning together of the word she has never heard in this language before, and then brightens again all at once.] Oh! You mean a microscope!
I have the video logs I've taken of my exploring on the other side of the ice tunnels. But I'll also look for - you're trying to build a - xian... wei... [she stutters and slows, putting the meaning together of the word she has never heard in this language before, and then brightens again all at once.] Oh! You mean a microscope!
[Unaware of their eavesdropper - she rather liked the Joker when she met him, anyway - Kesara continues with the same eager tone.]
It was in the school. I don't actually know if it was a real ghost, but there was a real thing, a tall thin shadow, and it really did drop this card. I lie a lot but I wouldn't lie about discoveries like this.
It was in the school. I don't actually know if it was a real ghost, but there was a real thing, a tall thin shadow, and it really did drop this card. I lie a lot but I wouldn't lie about discoveries like this.
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