7. Message in a bottle

[pompous_today]

I am not sure whether to be amused or puzzled by this Halloween message. But then again, I ended up being a doctor, which is exactly what I wanted to be when I was a child, and I know not everybody is so lucky. Of course, I also did not foresee the "drifting around space" part...

Comments

dictated;

[gottaknockhard]

[That's right... he's that guy.]

Seems like it'd be a steady place for a job. Hard to find doctors in space.

[pompous_today]

It is, especially on the further planets and moons. I did what I could where I could. [Simon filters this next part to Spike alone, figuring he may as well be honest.] However, I was also on the run from the law for much of the time for complicated reasons.

filter;

[gottaknockhard]

[If only Simon knew he was talking to a former bounty hunter... But that's all in the past now.]

That's a good place to run, if you can manage it.

filter;

[pompous_today]

I did, somehow. I had some good people helping me along the way.

filter;

[gottaknockhard]

Yeah. I remember a few of them.

filter;

[pompous_today]

Yes... I know that you knew my sister, at least. Who else, if I may ask?

filter;

[gottaknockhard]

I kept tabs on Kaylee and Zoe, up until they left.

filter;

[pompous_today]

I see. Kaylee especially is... very, very dear to me.

filter;

[gottaknockhard]

[Spike was pretty fond of her too. Decent mechanics are as rare to come by here as doctors are in space.]

I guess you'd know how she's doing back home. [Usually he wouldn't ask, but... Every now and then he gets curious.]

filter;

[pompous_today]

Very well. She and I are... well. We began dating not very long ago.

filter;

[gottaknockhard]

[... Well, he'd thought she had someone. Spike might have even known that if he'd ever bothered to talk about it.]

You could use better work on your timing.

filter;

[pompous_today]

Completely agreed. I know the Doctor said once that time freezes in our home universes, and I believe him, but that does not make me miss her any less.

filter;

[gottaknockhard]

That's a popular theory.

[quits]

Drifting around in space? [Sorry, that's interesting.]

[pompous_today]

Yes- I keep forgetting that people come from different worlds and times here...

I'm from 500 years into most peoples' futures, and by this time, Earth-that-was has long since been used up and left behind. Humanity lives and travels among the stars now.

[quits]

Earth that was?

How was it used up? [Sorry, she's dating a man that has dedicated his business to green energy and improving the world, she doesn't like hearing this.]

[pompous_today]

Earth's population simply got too big to sustain; there were too many people, and not enough resources to go around. We had the technology to change a planet's atmosphere into livable conditions, so many people left to find and colonize other planets.

[quits]

Oh.

[She needs a minute here.

After a few minutes, she's back.]

You said you got a card? [subject change is go!]

[pompous_today]

Indeed. It seems a little odd, but I am not sure what "The time to look back and see is coming" could possibly mean.

[quits]

It does seem rather ominous and vague, but I've been told that's the castle's modus operandi.

[pompous_today]

That is the impression I have gathered so far, yes. I suppose adequately preparing us would not be as amusing.

[quits]

No, being direct isn't always a funny thing.