text | un: m.cabrera

[naloxone]

[ turns out? space doesn't give a single fuck about your circadian rhythm. or maybe insomnia is just that attached to her that even the absence of a sun dictating her internal clock doesn't faze it, like an old friend you wish would just forget you already.

one night (?) late into the early hours (???) marta finds herself drifting out of the room she's come to assume will be hers for the indefinite future, passing through stark white walls with all the sterility of a hospital, but none of its familiar chaos.

she's still getting used to the earpiece. still getting used to hearing other people's voices in her head. she doesn't mean to add another in the void, but one of her own thoughts blares out too vividly as she stares out into an actual void: ]

—but where are the stars?

Comments

[naloxone]

[ marta smiles politely in return, not nearly as big or as easy as the other's, but sincere all the same. she makes her way over, walking carefully through the taller grass in the field. ]

I am, yes.

[ marta tries to place the other woman's accent; can only surmise that if she were from earth — that line of thinking is definitely going to take some getting used to — she'd probably be from great britain or something. australia? her ears never were able to make out the nuanced difference. ]

Marta, [ she adds as a hasty afterthought. not nearly as reflexive as the apology that follows: ] Sorry, I forgot to say.

[anthropophagite]

I don't think plain is bad. It sounds like a very peaceful life.

[naloxone]

[ listening now, marta can't help but consider herself lucky she's arrived when she has. what would she do if she found herself stuck inside her memories... what would she do if others could see—?

she shakes her head. clears her worries. endeavors to focus outside instead of in. ]

People are hurt?

[ a pause. ]

Are you alright?

[naloxone]

[ there's a slight pause on marta's end, caught on the other's initial words. thinking, even an ugly lie is still not as painful as a pretty truth. that the truth can always hurt, regardless of intent.

she's thankful alina moves on. ]

Mapmaker means you're good at details.
Human flashlight means...? You're good at light?

[naloxone]

There's a saying, where I'm from: ignorance is bliss.
I guess even in space the truth will sometimes still find a way to hurt you.

[naloxone]

It was.
Until it wasn't.

[ BUT ANYWAY— ]

What is your Earth like?

[naloxone]

I am, yes. Boston. Massachusetts, if you know. [ cuba, before that, but she's learned to be less forthcoming with that— ] I guess it doesn't really matter now.

Where are you from?

[anthropophagite]

[ well! She is here because she has some sort of regret, right? So Kaneki understands that.

But... Ah... He will have to lie. He hates lying, but he has no other choice. ]

A bit like that as well. And I did end up here, too. [ his life used to be peaceful. And then it wasn't.]

where's my starbucks wow

[naloxone]

[ maybe it's an odd sight, or maybe it's a familiar one by now — someone standing off to the side, eyes gazing off into something distant, something unseen, lips slightly parted on a thought turned print, flashing where only they can see.

when bones approaches her, she jolts, turns towards him like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't, like somehow her mere presence is taking up space where it shouldn't be, tucked towards the wall as it is. ]

Sorry, [ comes her reflex, before she can even think to process his words. she smiles a second later, polite and cordial. she gives a slight shake of her head. ]

Too much to think about. [ not that she wants to. ]

[droide]

Do you take after your namesake, in that respect?

[ Marta seems "nice" enough to Elthree, but she's curious how Marta would describe herself. ]

text - un; jaegermeister

[unbreachable]

[ also a resident insomniac, here. ]

I wondered that, too.

[naloxone]

[ she's starting to think nobody here sleeps... ]

Do you notice them often? Where you're from?

[naloxone]

[ marta wishes she had a choice about lying— ]

Sorry.
Or — maybe congratulations? [ if he's here she assumes it's because he's got a reason to be, but that also means he has the opportunity to fix it, right? ]
I guess it's not so black and white.

[naloxone]

[ marta? say nice things about herself??? ]

I try to.
Some days it's easier than others.

[doze]

ah so thats what the m is
im ace

[unbreachable]

[ it's all the collective trauma, tbh ]

I used to look at them when I was a kid. I grew up in Alaska before I started moving around with my family. It's pretty clear there.

[naloxone]

Yes, Cabrera is my last name.
Thanks for offering to help me, Ace.

[cruelyethuman]

Really. And how blissful can one choose to be, in your world?

There is nowhere to hide from it, I'm afraid. But the station does offer a variety of distractions from the emptiness.

[naloxone]

[ it's a wonder they're 3-for-3 on this mission thing.

but! finally, a place she recognizes. ]

I've never been outside of Massachusetts.
In the States, at least. Lived in the city, so stars were rare.
But I never really looked at them before. Didn't realize I could take them for granted.

[naloxone]

It depends on who you are. Some people can't afford to be.

[ there is no way for the thought to text function to capture the wryness of her tone... but that's probably for the best. ]

Do you mean the various rooms?

[unbreachable]

[ literally, tho ]

My dad was a hydraulic engineer, he worked on dams. After a while, he packed the whole family packed up and we went overseas. Lot of contract work.

Me, either. Weird, isn't it?

[ It's funny, people back home spent so much time looking up; astronauts, NASA...they forgot to look down. ]

[naloxone]

It's easy to miss what's suddenly not there.

[ for all her reservations on the thought-to-text function, she's at least glad it cannot translate the sudden melancholy in her tone. ]

Where else have you been?
Have you ever gone to Cuba?

[unbreachable]

Yeah. It is.

[ raleigh isn't a fan of audio or video modules of communication; it shows too much. he's a feeling person, and he's as prone to melancholy as anyone. ]

Never Cuba, though I'd like to. Spent some time in Peru. Tokyo, Budapest, Munich, France, Hong Kong. Couple other places.

[naloxone]

[ marta's expressive, but she's learned to keep it subdued. she is not so controlled with her thoughts, hence her reservations.

case in point: ]

I'm from Cuba.

[ a seemingly innocuous fact, but for her own reasons it's not something she readily admits. ]

It's beautiful there. When you go back... you should definitely visit.

[unbreachable]

I really want to. I’ve heard great things about the culture, and the people.

Maybe you can help me practice my Spanish.