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]

You're laughing at me.

[scarcastically]

Just a little.

[naloxone]

Do our robotic overlords carry rum?

[scarcastically]

There's some in the kitchen.

[naloxone]

Nice of them.

[scarcastically]

They're very helpful that way.

[naloxone]

Right. Pretty sure you don't become an overlord without some charity work under your belt.

[scarcastically]

Or putting in the good PR.

[naloxone]

You didn't seem to get the memo.

[ then again, there's something to be said about being too trusting, marta you idiot. ]

[scarcastically]

I'm only half-american. It helps.

[naloxone]

Does it make you less susceptible?

[scarcastically]

Just a bit.

[naloxone]

I'm an immigrant.

[ it comes out before she can help it, and for a brief second she feels a spike of worry—

but then she remembers she's in space. the rules are a little different here, aren't they? ]

How much hope do I have?

[scarcastically]

Just enough to get by.

But I get the feeling you hold more than that.

[naloxone]

[ there's a pause on her end. ]

I have to.

[scarcastically]

Have to?

[naloxone]

[ what do you do when you can't lie? deflect deflect deflect. ]

We're all here for a reason, aren't we?
Just by being here... that's already having a lot of hope.

[scarcastically]

I think you might be reading too much into it.

[naloxone]

That's not the case for you?

[scarcastically]

I guess I lean more on the pragmatic.

[naloxone]

Mm. Prepare for the worst, be pleasantly surprised if it works out?

[scarcastically]

That's the idea. Everything in balance.

[naloxone]

What about wishes? Do you not make those either?

[scarcastically]

Nah. Not really a fairytale kind of guy.

[naloxone]

Have you ever had a birthday?