nineteen ♢ video

[versusnurture]

[When the feed comes on, the first thing there is is a wall and half of a desk. Those people on board who've been inside will know it as Abigail's room. There's a small blood smear on the edge of the desk, another dark spot on the corner of the lens.]

[She doesn't turn it towards herself, but the camera does move towards the desk, is set down at the edge of it. Two hands appear in the frame, blood-caked, palm-up. There's blood under her nails, too, drier blood that's oxidized to a deep, almost black color.]

[She doesn't say anything. But after a moment, there's a strangled noise, and she knocks the camera off the desk. The briefest flash of dark hair and a pale face; then it hits the floor and shuts off.]

Comments

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[dinosize]

So I've been told. [ He doesn't particularly like Zane, who seemed entirely too interested in their physical resemblance. The scrutiny made Stephen uncomfortable. And Zane, at least, knew to back off.

At least he sounds different. His accent is a marked departure from Zane's. ]

Is the blood yours?

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[versusnurture]

[This is not an answer, but then again, she didn't really ask the question. And she doesn't remember who he is supposed to look like, just that there is someone. So she lets it drop.]

No. It's Ben's. He's--he went to get help.

Are you a doctor?

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[dinosize]

No, I just - there's a lot of blood in my line of work. You pick things up.

[ He doesn't plan on asking what happened, why is Ben injured. He doesn't want to step into something that is probably private, personal. ]

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[versusnurture]

Are you a soldier, then?

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[dinosize]

No.

No.

God, no.

I'm a - lab technician. Lately, more of a hunter and tracker.

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[versusnurture]

["God, no." She wonders why he's so upset about it.]

I used to be a hunter.

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[dinosize]

[ He doesn't like structure. He doesn't like playing by the rules. Soldiers are fine, as far as they go. They can be good, and honorable. Stephen will never be one of them. ]

Used to be?

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[versusnurture]

I don't have weapons anymore.

[Which in this case means many things. She doesn't have - hasn't had - the weapons she was used to for quite a while, the literal ones. She doesn't feel sharp anymore, either; dulled by darkness and too much quiet. She's been tamed, no longer a predator. Barely remembers what it was like to be one.]

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[dinosize]

[ There's a hesitation, a silence. ]

The thing about humans is - we can choose why. We can hunt to kill, or we can hunt to study. To discover.

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[versusnurture]

[She, too, is quiet for a minute. This puzzles her.]

To use information as a weapon. Later. [Sort of a question, sort of an assumption.]

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[dinosize]

Or just for its own sake. Curiosity.

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[versusnurture]

Like science?

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[dinosize]

Discovering and exploring isn't just science.

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[versusnurture]

What is it, then? There has to be a reason. A goal.

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[dinosize]

It can't just be fun?

Or beautiful.

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[versusnurture]

I don't know. I don't think so.

Hunt to eat. You're supposed to hunt to eat.

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[dinosize]

It can.

Do you have someone to - help you? With your hands.

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[versusnurture]

I have a warden.

[Which . . . is neither a yes nor a no.]

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[dinosize]

Is he - or she - helping you?

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[versusnurture]

He'll be back. Right now he's busy.

[Because she fucking stabbed him.]

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[dinosize]

...busy with what?

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[versusnurture]

Bleeding.

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[dinosize]

[ Well, that explains that. And suddenly makes him quite a bit more averse to speaking with her. But, he's supposed to work through that sort of thing. ]

Sorry to hear that.

[ WHAT DO YOU SAY IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. ]

My name is Stephen.

When I track creatures, it's ordinarily so they can be tranquilized and sent back where they came from.

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[versusnurture]

Me too. I didn't mean to. It was just surprising.

['It' in this case being everything, including life.]

Did you ever track people? [Are you going to tranquilize me and send me back? It's a paranoid thought, but she doesn't immediately dismiss it.]

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[dinosize]

I don't hunt people.