fh_trips | Kellerman's Resort, Tuesday Morning and Afternoon, October 13th

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fall break 2009: kellerman's

Kellerman's Resort, Tuesday Morning and Afternoon, October 13th

The weather at Kellerman's continued to be favourable, as the autumn sun shone down on the fields and streams of the area. The staff of the resort were busy but happy to help, bustling through the corridors and courtyard.

The boards outside were advertising a white water rafting trip today, for anyone willing to go out and risk the rapids; for the less adventurous, a trip to see the Cascade Falls might just do the trick.

[[ Cottage and Room List | Rooms | Activities Barn | Indoor Activities | Outdoor Activities | White Water Rafting | Cascade Falls | OOC | OCD up! ]]

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"That touch thing, huh..."

Jaime sighed.

"I guess you've got questions."

Dinah nodded, then shivered, starting to hurry up the path. "Yes. Definitely yes. But. Warm first? I can't even think straight this second. Brrr." She shot him another confused glance, then smiled a little. "Can wait a little. You helped me, so..." It's not like he was some kind of threat this second.

"I didn't tell you I was a touch telepath, did I?" she asked, when they were within sight of Fandango cabin. Whoops.

"Yeah. Warm's a good place to start," Jaime agreed immediately, tentatively stepping closer and holding out an arm for Dinah to tuck herself under if she wanted the extra warmth.

"And... didn't you?" Oh man he hoped so. Because if he were starting to forget which stuff he'd learned from people and which stuff from the Scarab... things were going to get messy.

[Thread too good. Must play from phone.]

Dinah gratefully accepted, huddling under his arm, crouching a little since they were the same height. "I don't... think so?" Maybe she had told him, when they sparred? Or had she relied on the gloves? "Can't remembered," she confessed, burrowing closer. "But. I heard you. Talking to someone." Her teeth were chattering as the mounted the steps to her cabin.

[heeeee. Awesome.]

"Maybe I'm just a crazy person?" He suggested lamely.

What did it say about his life that being believed to be crazy would be easier in this particular situation?

Dinah gave him a look, then pointed up the stairs. "Going to shower. Get changed. Be right back." Hopefully to stop talking as if every breath hurt. "Have a drink. Sit down." She shivered convulsively again. "Hot chocolate, maybe?" She stumbled over to the stairs.

"Good idea." He hadn't really thought she'd buy that.

"I'll make sure there's a mug for you when you get back." Maybe that would keep him distracted from freaking out while she was gone.

It took twenty minutes for Dinah to get warmed up enough to breath right and stop shivering, and then another five to put on her warmest clothes and twist her hair into a braid. It gave her the time to think over what she'd heard (keep monitoring her) and how to approach this.

Cheeks pink from the steam, and much more relaxed, she thudded down the stairs, smiling tentatively at Jaime. "So." She wandered over to the breakfast bar, and said, "You don't have to tell me, if you really don't want to. But I still owe you a big thank-you."

Jaime was staring intently at the steaming mug across from him when she returned. "No need to thank me," he waved absently, "you can take care of yourself, after all." And therer had been others in the raft who would have grabbed her if he hadn't.

He sighed and shook his head. "I do guess I owe you an explanation, though."

"That's up for debate. I'm still grateful." Dinah curled up on one of the padded barstools and huddled over the mug, inhaling the steam before taking a sip. "You were talking to someone else, I think," she said, hesitantly. "About me being okay?"

"Yeah," Jaime nodded slowly. "I was."

He sighed and reached up with on hand to tap his temple. "I'm not exactly alone up here. And the Scarab has one of the best sensor and analysis packages that evil alien conquerors can design. So... I asked it if you were in serious danger." Enough to make revealing himself worth the risk.

"Scarab," Dinah said, trying to assimilate that. "You have software in your head? Alien software?" Okay, that one was new.

"Well, hardware actually." Jaime reached back to rub at his neck. "Welded to my spine. But there's an artificial intelligence component to run it all."

"Wow. How did that happen-- Ohhhh. That's who you were talking to," Dinah realized. "The AI?" She leaned forward, chin on her hands, studying him. "How-- when did this happen? Why?" She bit her lip. "If you're good with telling me. I guess it's not really my business...."

"Hey, you told me about your thing." Some of it, at least. "And there's no reason to keep it secret now. I mean, it's a pretty boring story." Jaime's grin was sheepish. "Seriously. I found this weird rock, took it home, and while I was asleep it bonded itself to my spine."

"Owwwwww!" Dinah winced, fingers clutching her mug, eyes widening at him. "Spine? It's welded itself to you? Did it even ask?"

The suggestion of permission made Jaime snort in amusement. "The Scarabs were never programmed to ask for permission. I'm licky mine had been damaged because they're mostly designed to overwrite your personality while they're there."

"Whooooa. Why?" Dinah asked, looking at Jaime-the-aspiring-Texan-dentist with new eyes. "What is it supposed to be doing? Can't you get it out, or..."

"Well, it's not really the Scarab's fault that it was built by a crazy race of inter-stellar conquerors... And, really, it's a good little bug for the most part. Or... it was..." jaime trailed off sadly.

Then he shook his head. "Anyway, no one can even find the Scarab if it doesn't want to be found. Reach stealth technology is pretty much impenetrable. My mom thought I was on drugs when I first tried to explain it to her."

Dinah had to stare at that bit, gesturing in a semi-flail of being overwhelmed, then finally gulp a breath, and say, "So... it's supposed to conquer things? People? Us? But you're not letting it." She paused. "Is that why I didn't hear it, only you? That Reach thing?"

"That's what the Reach wanted it to do, yeah. But the Scarab and I both agree that that's a bad idea. Like I said, it's not a bad guy."

"As for why you didn't hear it... maybe? Or maybe you just didn't have time. I mean, it's not like you'd understand it anyway. Scarabs don't precisely speak English, you know?"

"That might do it, yeah," Dinah had to admit. If she couldn't understand it, she might not notice. It wasn't like she was exactly focusing at the time. She tilted her head, watching Jaime, marveling. "I totally didn't guess. So it's-- it's an AI, that evaluates, oh, strategy? Tactics?" She paused a second, looking worried. "It doesn't hurt now, does it?"

"Tactics, yeah, but... it's more of a tool for forming strategy. It tries to figure out what weaknesses people have and then comes up with ways to counter them. So it talks a lot. As for hurting? No. Not usually." Only if he armored up or down, and he hadn't had to do that for a while now.

"With the scanning... thingy." Dinah took another sip of hot chocolate, trying to make that all fall into place, and slowly nodded. "So you were using it to see if I was okay when I fell in the water?" She frowned, tilting her head. "Has it evaluated me?"

"Yeah," Jaime nodded, "that's probably what you heard. The Scarab is actually really good at medical diagnosis and stuff."

Then he paused to take a long sip of his own hot chocolate. "And... yeah. It doesn't turn off." He sounded apologetic about that.

[and now my phone battery is running low, so I may disappear...]

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