009 ✞ [VIDEO] - Backdated to before the fog rolls in....

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii payed close attention to the Network.  Often.  She saw the conversation passing publicly between individuals.  Noticed the patterns occurring.  Such as the recent increase in people disappearing.  Possibly being sent home.  Coincidently, starting from soon after the Emperor had been killed, except Midii didn't think it was a coincidence.]

[But that wasn't why she came to the Network that day.]

[She had a different question in mind.  Something she had been wondering about more and more, with every conversation she carried here:]

What if...somebody doesn't want to go home?  

Could they make us?  Or would they let us stay?

[Hypothetically speaking, of course.]

[Only it wasn't hypothetical at all.]

Comments

[ellectric]

The what?

[ And here, Elle's just going to crack up laughing. It takes her almost a full minute to calm down. ]

Are you serious? We, like, just got to the moon and not everyone even believes it was real. How colonized was space? Like, two green men who decided they didn't like Earth?

[unetrustworthy]

[Yeah, Midii didn't have much of a sense of humor to begin with. This? Not getting the joke. At all.]

Try five different space clusters spread out all around Earth's orbits. I don't know how many are up there now, but it's a lot.

[ellectric]

What? But how? Nobody could put that many people up there in two hundred years. Do you know how bureaucracy works?

It doesn't!

[ And in case that doesn't clue anybody in to the joke, Elle's going to add a bit. ]

Ba-dum tish.

[ Here all week, folks. ]

somehow completely lost this tag (thanks gmail)

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii did know how bureaucracy worked. The higher ups told you what to do, and you did it. That was her twelve-year-old understanding of government.]

Apparently, they could.

After Colony 190 means that it's been One Hundred and Ninety years since the first colonies were constructed. I don't remember all of the history, but I know that there were people up in space even back then. Not many. Just the oldest and richest families. It wasn't until much later that even civilians were able to travel there.

No problem!

[ellectric]

So.. wait. You lived on the moon? Or, like. Mars?

[ Elle doesn't know much about space. Her lack of education is extensive. ]

[unetrustworthy]

No.

I've never left Earth. [Unless you count Keelai as "not Earth"] My family could never afford it.

[ellectric]

[ No, Elle sounds truly horrified. ]

You mean Earth is where they keep the poor people?

[ But this is where she lives! POOR PEOPLE? ]

[unetrustworthy]

And the richest of the rich. Politicians and their families. The elite who had medical complications that kept them from living in the Space Colonies. That sort of thing.

I saw one of the gated communities once. It was like a completely different world.

[ellectric]

But- but I'm dead by then, right? Because you don't exist yet. Like, I don't have to worry about that.

[ Her dad can't make gold anymore. She would be considered poor there. Oh, crap. She's considered poor here, too. Only she is here. And her dad isn't. And she is poor.

Sorry about the sudden static over the line. There're some electricity issues on her end. She steps away and tries to take a couple deep breaths. ]

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii opened her mouth to comment...but then, there was only static.]

[Strange. That had never happened before.]

...hello?

[ellectric]

[ There's a spike in static, and then Elle is back. Her tone is light, almost flirtatious. Flirtation has saved her before. And hey, she can hope it'll work here, right? ]

Yeah. I'm here. Way not poor. In case you were wondering.

What's up?

[unetrustworthy]

I...wasn't wondering, actually.

[Flirtation doesn't...really work on her, if only because she's never had anyone try it on her before.]

Your screen malfunctioned for a moment, I think. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.

[ellectric]

Did it? I thought it was yours.

[ This is the very tone of innocence, Midii. How could you ever doubt that this isn't an innocent person that speaks to you over a glorified walkie-talkie? ]

[unetrustworthy]

[Mostly because Midii knew more about computers than she let on. Except she couldn't let that on, so she dismissed the notion as a distinct possibility, leaving no room for argument.]

Whatever happened, it looks like it's fixed now.

[ellectric]

Yep. So... I'm going to go... you know. Hang out.

Good talking to you!

[unetrustworthy]

You too. I think.

[Was it something she said?]