video; un: kovacs ( ft. the 11th doctor )

[kovach]

[ he's not really in the habit to go public on here, and he's much less likely to show his face usually, but considering his intent in this, he figures it helps to show a visual. the face he wears now, a few days into their return from giva, is probably more familiar to the people here than the one he was wearing around taeum, back to its usual display of bruises and cuts, having already returned to this body by the time he'd gotten into his fight with v'rizz, wasting little time in getting damage done to it again.

his old smoking habit is back to, fingers snatching the cigarette from between his lips so he can start speaking. ]

So, some of you might've seen me with a different face this past mission. I pretty much explained it to those few what the whole deal about it is, but — since it's not really a normal thing for people, I figured I can save everybody's time from having to provide the entire backstory every time.

[ because there's only so many times he could give a combined history-science lesson. ]

Where I come from, advancements in technology have allowed the extraction of human consciousness from the physical body. It can be stored and moved like data, and mostly we keep it in these discs called stacks, implanted in the back of the neck. [ his hand reaches back, tapping at his nape. ] It stores everything that makes a person who they are — personality, thoughts, instincts, memories. Which means a person can be moved around — downloaded and uploaded — from body to body. The physical is just ... sacks of flesh we call sleeves. You can even shoot down a body, destroy the heart and all the other organs, but as long as the stack is untouched, a person can survive. Just put the data from the stack into a different sleeve and life goes on.

[ it's a lot more complicated than that, if you involve the politics and economics and morality issues, but he figures the basics is enough for now. a sigh leaves him, bringing the cigarette back in and breathing in the smoke. ]

The sleeve I'm wearing now wasn't originally mine. How I got it and why is a whole other story that's not important — [ not for a public speech, anyway. ] The sleeve some of you saw me in while at Taeum ... is the one I was born with. But just like everything else in that place, it was mostly just bullshit tricks, so you're all stuck with this face again.

Oh! [ A completely different, yet additional familiar face pops up over Kovacs’ shoulder in his usual attire, dark coat and vest and bowtie. He waves. ] Hello! Sorry to interrupt, couldn’t quite help but overhear you talking a little bit about that ol’ ‘same person, different bodies’ bit. You see, I know a little something about that. Bit different, of course, but the concept’s really quite similar —

[ Yes, he’s just going to join Kovacs now. Sup. ]

Right. What you’ve said might be a little bit confusing if you haven’t got any experience with same-person-different-bodies, and — and what? Where are your drawings? The presentation?

[ There’s a shuffling as the Doctor turns to glance in Kovacs’ direction, and then his left, his right, and up towards the ceiling for good measure. ]

Discs and sleeves and stacks and all that, basically: bodily-wodily stuff. You, and the good-looking one are one and the same. Same person, different bodies. [ There’s a brief pause, and then: ] You know what, I think we’ll need a Powerpoint.

[ having a horrid flashback of the presentation the doctors attempted with trying to explain their own mutual existence, kovacs is quick to try shooing the other man away with a cigarette-holding hand. ]

We're not doing the shitty diagram strategy. [ a pause. ] Wait — what do you mean good-looking one?



( the blue text above is a guest appearance by the eleventh doctor. feel free to address either one of them! )

Comments

[kovach]

[ hey, hey — he's here too. ]

Don't do that.

[ he's definitely giving her a disapproving face since he knows she knows what she does by encouraging this. ]

[naloxone]

[ she can't lie, but she can certainly feign innocence when she's motivated enough.

turns out being a lil shit is pretty good motivation. ]

He wants to help. It'd save you having to explain it again, right?

[kovach]

[ she can bat her eyes and do her little innocent act, but kovacs knows her better than most by now. he knows she's got plenty of mischief of her own. ]

His version of explaining things would just double the questions, trust me. It's better not to get into the artistic approach.

[naloxone]

[ there's a twist to her lips that says she doesn't disagree, but she can't very well besmirch the good doctor's name, can she? ]

Sounds like his mind's made up. It might be better to work with the inevitable than try to fight it. Save yourself some headaches.

[kovach]

[ the sigh he responds with gives plenty of an indication that he's already given in, even if there's still the present itch to buckle back against the nonsense. ]

Pretty sure, by now, the headaches are a guarantee in either scenario. This is where you prescribe me the good stuff to get through it.

[naloxone]

[ kovacs? giving into the whims and wiles of his friends? this is marta's surprised face. (spoilers: it isn't very surprised.) ]

Sounds a lot like you're asking me to abuse my position.

[kovach]

No, I just thought I was your favorite patient.

[ — which is just meant to be a sarcastic joke, even if it's one that probably carries a lot more weight than either of them would dare to give attention to. ]

[naloxone]

[ suddenly there is significant regret in being on video, where it's far too easy to see how her cheeks color, and how quick she is to look away.

anyway... ]

"Frequent" doesn't translate to "favorite."

[kovach]

[ the continued disadvantage of the video in how it, in turn, provides the evidence of how he watches her, how he can spot the subtle shifts along the lines of her face and the turn of her head in response to his comment. it's little things, probably enough to catch just by those envoy instincts that allow him to take in every detail.

but the lingering stare that watches it, in a moment that feels longer than it is — that has nothing to do with being an envoy. ]

What can I say? People like knocking this face around and you're the only person I trust to keep it pretty.

[naloxone]

[ sir this is a wendy's— ]

You only say that because you don't know how often I think about knocking it around myself.

[kovach]

[ is it a greater misfortune for him or her that the video is able to catch the responding smirk. ]

Well, don't hold back for my sake. You could do whatever you want to it.

[naloxone]

[ sir— ]

That's a lot of freedom to give. You should be careful.

[ someone give her an award for managing to keep a straight face.

and by straight face i mean her lips definitely twitch and she swallows too heavily not to be subtle but whatever. ]

[kovach]

[ it's slight, but he knows how to track those little shifts in her expression, minor movements of her lips, her jaw, her brows; the swallow definitely doesn't go unnoticed. it's the details, he'd say with a casual ease, a talent he's known for.

but the talent means nothing if he doesn't go looking for it. and with her, he often finds himself definitely looking. ]

With you? Never.