outsiders | audio;

[ She's just starting to wake up, and for a moment she doesn't remember where she is. But it all comes back a moment later and her eyes widen with alarm as she pushes herself upright.

Her eyes settle on Wash, and she pauses, brow furrowing. She knows it's Wash, it's obviously him but he sure doesn't look much he did the last time she saw him. ]

Wash? Are you--what happened?

Hey-- hey, don't get up.

[ Wash waves her down with his good hand and comes into the room, glancing around. There's an asari on the far bed, but she seems to be out, and he hopes Carolina is either drugged or disoriented enough to not pay it much mind. ]

I'm fine. Just, you know. Little argument with the locals. [ He shrugs and immediately regrets it-- his muscles are still sore. ] Are you okay?

[ She feels okay. Definitely not one hundred percent, still woozy, but better than before. Doctors must have given her something for her head--

Her eyes widen. The doctors. ]

Wash, where the hell are we, and why-- [ She lowers her voice to a hiss. ] --why are there aliens just walking around?

Edited 2013-06-09 16:41 (UTC)

Because this is their universe, not ours.

[ Wash stops next to her bed and meets her eyes, hoping that if nothing else the gravity in his voice will get through to her. He knows full well that she's about the last person who'll want to listen to this, but it's all the more reason to make sure she doesn't get herself killed out there. ]

You got pulled out of your universe and dropped into this one. No one knows how it works, but as far as anyone knows, we're stuck here. Now, if you promise to stay put and listen, I'll tell you everything I know.

[ Oh no, not this again.

Problem is, she's sure she's not hallucinating now. And she's known since Wash walked in that he doesn't look right. It's not just the injury--he looks like an older Wash, however that's possible.

She should probably stop thinking in terms of "possible," because that sinking feeling in her stomach tells her she hasn't seen the worst of it yet. ]

You're not Wash, are you. Not the one I know, anyway.

[ And that means there's no one here she knows. A look of defeat flashes over her face, only for a moment, before her jaw hardens. ]

First--I need to know. Did Tex come through before me? Is she here?

Probably not. And even if I was, we're probably from different points in the timeline.

[ Wash pulls up a chair next to her bed, but he stops short at her question, feeling a heavy weight drop in his stomach. His gaze falls, and he shakes his head. ]

No. She's never been here.

[ She swallows. Clenches her jaw. ]

Damn it. Damn it, not again! Every time!

[ Her hands ball into fists. ]

And there's no way back? I'm just stuck here?

Carolina--

[ Wash cuts himself off. There's never been any arguing with Carolina on this point. Never will be.

Instead, he lowers himself into the chair and gives her a nod. ]

We all are. There are a couple dozen of us trapped on the station. We all got here on the shuttles, same as you.

[ Her shoulders slump and her eyes drop. She lets out her breath slowly. ]

Wash... [ She cocks her head to the side, wheels turning. ] You said there are different timelines. And that you're from later...

So what happened? After the ship crashed, did I stop her? Did I stop Tex?

[ In hindsight, he probably should have seen that coming, but it's still like a blow to the chest when it hits. Wash clenches his jaw and looks away. How can he even answer her, knowing how much it had haunted her for years afterwards? ]

Carolina...

[ What the hell's that look? It's not good, that's for sure. There's something he doesn't want to tell her, and all it can mean is she failed. And if she failed...

Carolina rests her forehead into her hand. It can't go like this. It can't. The Project destroyed, everything they worked for. Everything she worked for.

Unless she can get back, and stop it. The timelines are different, that means it isn't set in stone--she can stop it. But she has to get back. And from the sound of things, that isn't going to be happening anytime soon.

She lets her breath out sharply through her teeth. ]

Never mind.

Just-- look.

[ Wash turns back, meeting her gaze and holding it this time. ]

A lot happened, okay? Things not even you knew about.

[ She pauses, studying him. Thought he wasn't going to tell her anything, but that's not it. More like he doesn't know how to tell her. ]

What do you mean--things I didn't know about?

[ Wash blows out a breath. He's not even sure where to start. But he's done this so many times, with so many different versions of the people he'd known, his friends, that it all ever comes down to one thing. ]

Like the Alpha.

[ Carolina cocks her head to the side.

It sounds vaguely familiar, like something she's heard muttered in the back of her head. The two... well, it was hard to keep them straight. They'd talk over each other. Argue, even. But that sounds familiar. Alpha. Something from them.

For the first time since it happened, she has time to wonder whether she misses them.

She's not sure. ]

The what?

[ So she doesn't know.

This means he'll have to start from the beginning. He settles in his seat, makes himself comfortable. He'd told her he was going to tell her everything, and if she can stay calm, he will. ]

The Alpha. It's where all of our A.I.s came from. He told us they were fragments, remember? And they were. Just not in the way we thought.

[ Wash's lips twist. Even now, he can't entirely hold back the disgust. ]

They gave him an A.I. for his experiments, Carolina. Just one. Not enough for all of us, not for the Project. So he had an idea. If he couldn't copy it, he'd do the next best thing. He'd split it.

[ Carolina sits back a little, crossing her arms.

They never really knew what the Director meant by "fragments," and it's not as though he kept her any less in the dark. Even before Freelancer, Dad never was one to talk about his work. Wasn't as though she needed the details. She knew what her job was, and equipment was equipment.

She's not clear what Wash means, but it's clear he thinks it's pretty damn important. ]

Okay... what do you mean, split it?

Exactly what it sounds like. A.I. are based on a human mind. You can't just break one up into pieces and hand it out. It doesn't work that way. So he had to get creative.

[ Wash gives her a level look. He doesn't know how well she's going to take this, so he keeps his tone steady, even as he continues. ]

He tortured it. Like reverse-engineering a split personality disorder. He ran scenario after scenario until it started fragmenting. And then he implanted them in us.

[ Carolina tilts her head slightly and stares at him blankly for a long moment, almost as if she didn't really hear him. ]

No, there's no way that happened...

[ Wash supposes denial isn't all that surprising. He looks at her, flatly. ]

And why not?

[ Carolina squints a little and shakes her head slowly.

This certainly isn't the time she wants to bring up her connection to the Director. She never told any of them about that. Would've just complicated things.

AIs were her dad's... everything, really, his life, his work, his obsession. They were his thing. Spent his whole life trying to improve the science of it, perfect it, and... well, she doesn't know much about it herself, it's not like he talked to her about it, but what Wash is saying, that can't have been his goal. It can't. She's not even sure if what he's describing is possible, frankly. ]

It just doesn't make sense... look, you said we're from different timelines, universes, whatever you want to call it. How could you possibly know what happened in mine?

Because I know a lot more about it than you think I do, Carolina.

[ He knows this is harder for her than for anyone else, but that's why he has to get it through to her now. Before she does something she'll end up regretting. Back in his universe, Carolina had had years to plan her revenge. He doesn't want to see her end up the same way. ]

Before you got here-- what's the last thing that happened? You said I was already in recovery.

Yeah, for a few days. You'd just had Epsilon removed. Tex stole Wyoming's AI, hijacked the ship, crashed it.

[ No need to mention York. She really, really isn't in the mood to talk about York.

Her eyes drop as she continues. Her hand goes automatically to the back of her neck. She's barely had time to even process everything that happened, let alone sort through it and make sense of it. ]

Something... happened to Maine.

[ She shivers. Her voice takes on a bitter edge. ]

I don't know what happened after the crash. By the time I woke up, everyone was gone.

God, that's right. I forgot that's what they told you.

[ Wash can't help but snort -- the idea of Tex taking Gamma is just laughable, let alone that anyone had ever believed it. Like Tex had cared about anything but Alpha.

Maine, though. That answers the more important question. Wash schools his expression and leans forward, resting his elbows on the side of her bed. ]

He wasn't Maine anymore. He took Eta and Iota, didn't he? And your equipment. But only your camouflage unit.

Edited 2013-06-23 04:52 (UTC)

[ Carolina's eyes narrow. God, she's getting really tired of everyone talking to her like she's stupid. ]

What do you mean, that's what they told me?

And Maine--

[ Her hands scramble over her armor for the spot where the unit's housed. And it's gone. Speed unit's still there, but Wash is right--the camo unit's been removed. She doesn't even remember that. Just remembers those huge hands grabbing her by the neck, tearing the chips out, and two shrill screams that ended abruptly in a shock of pain and dizziness. Just remembering it makes her feel like throwing up. ]

How did you know about that?

[ How would he know about that? Does that mean they came back for her, in his timeline? Didn't leave her for dead in the snow after all? ]

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