( is there anyone here that doesn't come from an inherently doomed, hostile, bloody, or violent home reality? probably a few, but clarke tends to fall in with the perpetually traumatized crowd; honestly struggles to hold a conversation with someone without a strand of pessimistic ptsd in their bones. )
I mean, humanity didn't last forever on my world either. But it was mostly by our own design.
( man ruins the planet, man creates artificial intelligence with the directive to help, artificial intelligence destroys man. scarce few survive the apocalypse, artificial intelligence returns in an attempt to help, man (or blonde haired girl) kills artificial intelligence, then man faces down the burning oblivion artificial intelligence was trying to spare them from. )
But even before all that, the most we had were nuclear weapons and space stations.
We're not really immune to that, either; causing our own demise, I mean. There's people who are out to end the world.
[ At the will of one of two immortal beings that the Gods made after wiping out early humanity and replacing them. An immortal being who can't be destroyed and yet who Ruby and her friends have to try and stop anyway.
She's distracted from that after a moment though because, ] Space stations...? People in your world went to space? Before... before—
[ Gesturing vaguely. Before the destruction she implied. It's pretty clear that sounds insane to her; in her world, they've never even had satellites in orbit. They're not lacking in technology, but that level of technology has simply never existed. ]
Not just space. We put people on the moon before — ( yeah, she knows what you're gesturing about ruby, it's all good) — and sent crews even further in search of new resources.
( actually not clarke's first rodeo with this sort of mix of confusion and awe, and while not at all smug, she's still letting out a good natured snort. just a hard exhale through her nose, comfortable in this position now, and well practiced in her responses for it. )
I grew up thinking the only survivors of the first nuclear apocalypse were the few hundred people on board the 12 national space stations in orbit. Eventually all twelve of them banded together into one big space station, and 80-ish years later, that's where I was born.
Wow. That is... wow. We can't get even a single transmitter into the upper atmosphere, not that we aren't— trying, but the resources needed to do it are just... wow. That's crazy to me. You were born up there?
[ She's still determined to get Amity Coliseum up into the sky, re-establish global communications that have been down for months since one of the CCTS towers went down, but it's a goal that's barely achievable. The idea of getting anything into orbit, let alone establishing twelve and then one large space station... yeah, it's absolutely blowing her mind.
It's not that the horrors implied in 'first nuclear apocalypse' are lost on her, but it's very firmly overshadowed right now. ]
( you were born up there? clarke gives a stiff little nod, unbothered by the query but sour around the memories it brings up. ration pills, no medical supplies, a death sentence looming around every corner, oxygen rations... )
Uh-huh. Third generation.
( it was never as cool and fancy as it sounds. )
I miss the view. Sometimes the structure. ( any slim vestiges of childhood innocence. ) But that's it.
[ For what it's worth, this time Ruby does not somehow manage to miss the cues, there; the stiffness, the short list... and she knows she gets easily wrapped up in the fantasy of something. Like how she always thought being a Huntress would be like the fairy tales, and, well, she supposes in a way it is, but not... really in the way she imagined, and— well, that's not something she wants to dwell on, so she doesn't, just flashes a bit of an awkwardness-tinged smile. ]
The view must have been... I can't even imagine. Just the view from airships awes me still.
But I'm sure these things are never quite so glamourous as they sound to a stranger, huh. [ awkward, well-meaning little shrug ] The most interesting parts of my life probably sound better in theory, too.
[ The girl is chronically compassionate and empathetic... and also offers her own emotions up more like bargaining chips than anything else. ]
...still think I'd take dealing with those interesting parts over being stuck away from them, though.
( empathy, compassion, well-meant awkwardness... despite this entire meeting starting on the tail-end of weapons almost being drawn, ultimately ruby strikes clarke as a kind person. it's a good first impression, even if those don't always hold up on board the ship. even while she continues to chew over her own sour nostalgia for like on the ark, watching someone else marvel at the fantasy of it reminds her of being younger (like, by two years, she's still eighteen) and wistfully dreaming of what life would be like on earth. imagining flowers, and rainstorms, rivers and waterfalls, laying in the grass and looking up at the sky instead of down for once; farming and hunting, building a homestead and a brand new life on the ancient graves of humanity's ancestors, thriving instead of just surviving...
not much played out how clarke had hoped. it never does, but that didn't take away from the stunning sensation of feeling wind on her face for the first time, or smelling a bioluminescent flower, or swimming. wonderment, one of the few things people seemed to cling to, even in the darkest of times.
on the board behind the desk, there's all those sketches. most under layers of notes and rough maps, and clarke reaches out to pick through until coming to a specific doodle and pulling it down from its pushpin. it'll look roughly like this, only done entirely in black and grey pencil and missing the sliver of moonrock along the bottom. but she hands it to ruby regardless. )
Definitely not glamourous. But that doesn't mean it wasn't beautiful.
( so enjoy the earth picture. while her new roommate does that, clarke's attention is brought back to her wet shoes, which she'll go about changing before announcing: )
I'm going to get myself another coffee. I'll give you some space to settle in but later, if you'd like, I can show you a few places around here.
[ Ruby accepts the picture carefully, unable to help a little, silently wide-eyed 'ohhhh' because that is beautiful. It makes her wonder what Remnant must look like from afar—sure, they have maps, on Remnant like anywhere else, but... a map is more clinical than a piece of art, and they're certainly less beautiful than the real thing must be. ]
...yeah, that really must've been one hell of a view. [ she looks up again, smiling ] I'd like that, yeah. You showing me around a bit, I mean. I tried to explore some earlier, but it's a big ship.
( she watches ruby's face as she takes in the sketchy rendering of earth as viewed from outer space until her wonderment stokes a sense of homesickness in clarke's chest — the very same she's been trying to stamp out this entire time, reminding herself that earth no longer looked green and lush, and there was no going back because she'd died — and she returns to focus on changing out her boat shoes. )
It's pretty big, but you'll get the hang of it.
( spend enough time stuck even on the expansive cruise liner, and it very quickly began to feel tiny and cramped. )
I've got the hang of worse—or, well. Bigger places. So uh. Yeah. I should.
[ Beacon and Atlas Academies are all bigger spaces, but they're also different degrees of familiar in a way a ship like this really is not. Plus arriving at the academies actually did come with a guided tour by like, default. ]
...uh, thanks, Clarke. See you in a bit, then.
[ She'll finish getting settled in, in the meantime. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I mean, humanity didn't last forever on my world either. But it was mostly by our own design.
( man ruins the planet, man creates artificial intelligence with the directive to help, artificial intelligence destroys man. scarce few survive the apocalypse, artificial intelligence returns in an attempt to help, man (or blonde haired girl) kills artificial intelligence, then man faces down the burning oblivion artificial intelligence was trying to spare them from. )
But even before all that, the most we had were nuclear weapons and space stations.
no subject
We're not really immune to that, either; causing our own demise, I mean. There's people who are out to end the world.
[ At the will of one of two immortal beings that the Gods made after wiping out early humanity and replacing them. An immortal being who can't be destroyed and yet who Ruby and her friends have to try and stop anyway.
She's distracted from that after a moment though because, ] Space stations...? People in your world went to space? Before... before—
[ Gesturing vaguely. Before the destruction she implied. It's pretty clear that sounds insane to her; in her world, they've never even had satellites in orbit. They're not lacking in technology, but that level of technology has simply never existed. ]
no subject
( actually not clarke's first rodeo with this sort of mix of confusion and awe, and while not at all smug, she's still letting out a good natured snort. just a hard exhale through her nose, comfortable in this position now, and well practiced in her responses for it. )
I grew up thinking the only survivors of the first nuclear apocalypse were the few hundred people on board the 12 national space stations in orbit. Eventually all twelve of them banded together into one big space station, and 80-ish years later, that's where I was born.
no subject
Wow. That is... wow. We can't get even a single transmitter into the upper atmosphere, not that we aren't— trying, but the resources needed to do it are just... wow. That's crazy to me. You were born up there?
[ She's still determined to get Amity Coliseum up into the sky, re-establish global communications that have been down for months since one of the CCTS towers went down, but it's a goal that's barely achievable. The idea of getting anything into orbit, let alone establishing twelve and then one large space station... yeah, it's absolutely blowing her mind.
It's not that the horrors implied in 'first nuclear apocalypse' are lost on her, but it's very firmly overshadowed right now. ]
no subject
Uh-huh. Third generation.
( it was never as cool and fancy as it sounds. )
I miss the view. Sometimes the structure. ( any slim vestiges of childhood innocence. ) But that's it.
no subject
[ For what it's worth, this time Ruby does not somehow manage to miss the cues, there; the stiffness, the short list... and she knows she gets easily wrapped up in the fantasy of something. Like how she always thought being a Huntress would be like the fairy tales, and, well, she supposes in a way it is, but not... really in the way she imagined, and— well, that's not something she wants to dwell on, so she doesn't, just flashes a bit of an awkwardness-tinged smile. ]
The view must have been... I can't even imagine. Just the view from airships awes me still.
But I'm sure these things are never quite so glamourous as they sound to a stranger, huh. [ awkward, well-meaning little shrug ] The most interesting parts of my life probably sound better in theory, too.
[ The girl is chronically compassionate and empathetic... and also offers her own emotions up more like bargaining chips than anything else. ]
...still think I'd take dealing with those interesting parts over being stuck away from them, though.
no subject
not much played out how clarke had hoped. it never does, but that didn't take away from the stunning sensation of feeling wind on her face for the first time, or smelling a bioluminescent flower, or swimming. wonderment, one of the few things people seemed to cling to, even in the darkest of times.
on the board behind the desk, there's all those sketches. most under layers of notes and rough maps, and clarke reaches out to pick through until coming to a specific doodle and pulling it down from its pushpin. it'll look roughly like this, only done entirely in black and grey pencil and missing the sliver of moonrock along the bottom. but she hands it to ruby regardless. )
Definitely not glamourous. But that doesn't mean it wasn't beautiful.
( so enjoy the earth picture. while her new roommate does that, clarke's attention is brought back to her wet shoes, which she'll go about changing before announcing: )
I'm going to get myself another coffee. I'll give you some space to settle in but later, if you'd like, I can show you a few places around here.
no subject
[ Ruby accepts the picture carefully, unable to help a little, silently wide-eyed 'ohhhh' because that is beautiful. It makes her wonder what Remnant must look like from afar—sure, they have maps, on Remnant like anywhere else, but... a map is more clinical than a piece of art, and they're certainly less beautiful than the real thing must be. ]
...yeah, that really must've been one hell of a view. [ she looks up again, smiling ] I'd like that, yeah. You showing me around a bit, I mean. I tried to explore some earlier, but it's a big ship.
no subject
It's pretty big, but you'll get the hang of it.
( spend enough time stuck even on the expansive cruise liner, and it very quickly began to feel tiny and cramped. )
Alright then, I'll be back in a bit.
no subject
I've got the hang of worse—or, well. Bigger places. So uh. Yeah. I should.
[ Beacon and Atlas Academies are all bigger spaces, but they're also different degrees of familiar in a way a ship like this really is not. Plus arriving at the academies actually did come with a guided tour by like, default. ]
...uh, thanks, Clarke. See you in a bit, then.
[ She'll finish getting settled in, in the meantime. ]